Owen Johnson

I’ve very much enjoyed serving as men’s competitive captain of the UCL Swimming Club this year, and I’m running to do so again next year. It was a pleasure getting to know members of the club, both in the competitive and fitness squads, and I’ve enjoyed working with the executive committee this year.

I am most proud of improving the organisation of our practices by scheduling workouts in advance, providing focus points for the week, and typing the workouts to make them easier to follow for swimmers in the water. I think this can be improved even further next year by giving swimmers individual access to the practices as well as cross-training suggestions when we’re not in the water, and I will work with the committee over the summer to try to implement that.

This was my fifteenth year of competitive swimming. I was captain of my high school’s state-champion varsity swim team. I was not only tasked with representing the face of the team at our meets but also with managing the day-to-day role. I helped the coaching staff with organising details of our training trip and state meet, in addition to leading practices, calling out sets, and keeping the team focused and organised. I was also captain of my school’s varsity cross country team, and I learned more about team leadership from that. I also coach my local club team, which I will be continuing this summer. This helps me hone my ability to build effective sets that combine being challenging with a focus on technique.