Sport: Swimming

Grade: 12

Senior Will Brenton, captain of the Orono boys swim team, is a hard worker. Since age six, Brenton has worked to become a better swimmer .

“[Swimming] runs in the family. My Dad was a swimmer through college at Southern Methodist and his dad [Brenton’s grandfather]  swam at Yale. Because of that my parents had me in the water at a very young age,” Brenton said.

Brenton swims two to three hours everyday with the support of his head coach, Pete Buecher, who has over 35 years of coaching experience during the high school season. When he’s in the off season he trains under Jeff Rodriguez at Edina Swim Club.

“He’s an animal. He wakes up at five in the morning in the summer to swim. I don’t know anyone else that is as dedicated as he is. He swims twice every day,” senior Sig Mueller said.

According to the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), Brenton swam his personal best, 49.62 seconds, in the 100m back to finish second overall at the Minnesota Class A State Championships last season. Due Brenton’s swimming achievements, he has had the privilege of meeting several Olympic swimmers such as Michael Phelps, Matt Grevers, David Plumer and Jim Montgomery. Brenton has also signed to swim for Arizona State University (ASU).

There, he would commit to join the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils, Bob Bowman. Bowman is a four time U.S. Olympic coach. Bowman is well known for coaching Michael Phelps, 28 time olympic medalist.

“He has always had the dream of swimming for a Division 1 college. He was not going to let anything get in the way of him fulfilling that dream,” mother Shelley Brenton said.

Before Brenton was signed with the Sun Devils, he faced an ultimate bump in the road. In early 2015, Brenton, who had suffered from headaches for his entire life, had a corrective surgery for a malformation of the brain called Chiari type (CM1).

According to the Mustafa Kemal University, Department of Neurosurgery, CM1 is when the cerebellum is being herniated between the base of the skull and the spine. This causes the cerebellum to cause swelling and cuts off circulation to this part of the brain.

Brenton described his recovery as “mentally, physically and emotionally challenging.”

“It really took a tole on every aspect of my life especially my swimming as I wasn’t able to train for the two and a half months, right before the biggest season of my life,” Brenton said.

Through his recovery, his friends, family and teammates were always by his side.

“I couldn’t have done it with our their support,” Brenton said.

“The team was always there for him if he needed anything. Will being one of my best friends, I would do anything to help him recover and be back on the team. We sent him food and gifts. It was a bitter-sweet feeling due to the fact that the surgery would be on his brain but it will only help him in the long run,” senior captain Andy Kileen said.

Today, Brenton is preparing himself for a successful future at ASU.