Sometimes, there can be something you really don’t want to do that becomes the thing you do best.

As a young child, Marian’s Michael Strucko had made up his mind that he didn’t want to swim competitively, but after some encouragement from his mother, he decided to give it a chance.

Because of that and his dedication to the sport, Strucko has been awarded the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Swimmer of the Year for the third straight time.

From learning how to swim when he was 5 years old to spending 250 days a year in a pool nowadays, Strucko’s commitment to excellence has him winning races and breaking records.

Marian swim coach Andrea Feathers has monitored the junior’s progress ever since he became a competitive participant two years ago.

“Michael is a well-rounded swimmer. He can swim any event,” Feathers said. “He focuses primarily on the 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. He’s very focused, and his positive attitude pushes the boys on our team to be better.”

Doing better has also been helped by Strucko’s swimming for the Parkland Area Aquatic Club for the past eight years, but his first competitive swimming began when he was seven for the Tamaqua Blue Waves.

“I come from a very competitive family,” Strucko said, “so I’m glad my mother urged me to become a swim racer.”

Strucko’s swimming schedule for Parkland Area has taken him to many states including Florida, Virginia, New York, Maryland and New Jersey. These experiences have helped him win many local races, and set a pool record in the process.

“When he was a freshman, Michael finished first in the district 500 yard freestyle, second in the 100 yard backstroke and in the states, he finished 18th in the freestyle,” said Feathers.

Strucko’s swimming history has taken him from 25 yard racing to now, where some of his events require that he swim a mile or what totals to be 66 laps.

“I do pretty much all the events, but my favorite is the backstroke, “he said. “But in the medley races, I swim the butterfly, the backstroke, the breast stroke and the freestyle.”

As a sophomore, Strucko won the Class 2A District 11 200 yard freestyle, and won gold in the 100 yard backstroke. He set a personal best in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:48.94. He finished 10th in state competition for the 200 yard freestyle, and 13th in the 100 yard backstroke.

This past season, he won the District 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. He also set a new pool record on Jan. 30 at North Schuylkill in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.97.

Strucko continues to improve in state competition. This year he finished eighth in the 200 yard freestyle, and fifth in the 100 yard backstroke.

Much of Strucko’s training is done outside of the pool.

“I go to the gym,” he said. “Stretching is very important. People might think that your arms and legs are the most important to be good at swimming, but the truth is the abdominal core is critical to success. Every muscle in the body is used in swimming.”

In competitive swimming, the athlete not only swims against opponents, but compete against themselves as well, always trying to break their personal time records.

“There are other factors that affect performance,” said Strucko. “The depth of the pool and the temperature of the water are important. Personally, the colder the better for the water temperature, near the high 70s is perfect for me.”

In the longer races, stamina certainly factors into the quality of performance.

“The dive into the water needs to be a good start. The turns for each lap, and my goal is to have energy left over when I finish. That’s a good sign for my stamina.”

Of course, what often sets a swimmer apart from their competitors is their mental strength, which Strucko has been able to maintain throughout all of his wins.

“But just like in any other sport, swimmers have bad days, too,” he said. “You can’t take it home with you. I just shrug it off and get ready for the next time I’m called to compete.”

Strucko has set new goals for what will be his senior year swimming for Marian, which has had a swim team for only two years now.

“For our team, I think we’ll have some pretty good swimmers that can help improve our overall record,” he said, “For me personally, I’d love to repeat as a district champion and win a state title.”

Strucko is also excited about the future of competitive swimming.

“It’s a growing spectator sport, and it gets a lot of talk on social media,” he said, “and there are plenty of scholarships being offered at the college level.”

As a three-time winner of the Swimmer of the Year, Strucko has added local excitement from his outstanding success in the pool, and looks forward to doing his best at earning a college scholarship next season.