Swanson expands the definition of student-athlete…by a lot

It’s not possible to do a lot of multi-tasking when you’re underwater. That’s the way Caleb Swanson wants it, even though he’s a busy guy.

This University of South Dakota swimmer does not have a lot of spare minutes in his life. People aware of how deeply involved Swanson is in the college student experience will ask him why he’s hanging in there with the swimming when it would be so much easier to leave it behind.

The junior, who went to high school in Mitchell, South Dakota, doesn't shrug his shoulders when they ask. He knows the answer. 

“I just don’t agree that I’d be better off not swimming,” he said. “I’d say swimming helps me with all the things that I’m doing. First and foremost, there is the mental and physical health aspect. I’m the type of person who has to be active and working out. I hate sitting still for multiple hours on end. Because I’m a swimmer, I can take a break during the day and just think about swimming and not all the other things. There is teamwork, there is interacting with other people, there are leadership opportunities. These are skills I need in every other thing I’m doing. Swimming complements all of those things.”

Swanson’s LinkedIn page reads like that of a busy 50-year-old who champions environmental causes while maintaining a successful career. Except he’s just three years out of high school.

To summarize, it’s a long list of stuff done at a very high level and when he’s asked to recite all of it he has to consult his laptop. Perhaps a part of this is because he likes answering questions with a degree of precision most of us don’t deem necessary. Mostly, though, it’s because he’s involved in so many things he might skip over a few of them if the list is not sitting there in front of him.

“We get to work with a lot of interesting Type-A driven kids in our program,” said Jason Mahowald, in his 17th season as USD’s swimming coach. “Caleb’s in that next level right above that. We don’t have kids we have to worry about to begin with but then there’s that next echelon of kids who are above and beyond where everyone else is at. Caleb is one of those guys who can do it all.”

Swanson is double-majoring in political science and sustainability. He also has a minor in biology. He is part of the honors program at USD and is working on his undergraduate thesis the next two years. 

The rest of it is a little overwhelming. Highlights include serving as an intern for Stateside Associates in Arlington, Virginia, this past summer. On campus he is USD Student Government Association College of Arts and Sciences Senator and Internal Review Committee Chair. He is a student representative to USD's University Sustainability and Athletic Board of Control Committees and serves as the USD Environmental Club president.

He is also a national athlete committee representative for USA Swimming, as well as the USD Pre-Law Society treasurer.

There is more. He was named honorable mention recently for a prestigious Udall Foundation scholarship – he’ll be up for the same scholarship this year – and also served as an intern for the city of Mitchell where he focused on Lake Mitchell and water quality issues.

As the conversation goes on, you understand he’s not trying to pad an already thick resume. You know this because after he tells you the next job title on the list, he tells you what he’s working on in that capacity. This is a genuine cause-driven crusade by a student-athlete who wants to be generous with his talents. 

“I will be completely honest – it’s not easy,” he said. “There is a lot of time management. I have to be very aware of how I manage my time. The biggest thing for me is knowing where my priorities are and knowing which thing’s I need to do first.”

That time in the water becomes a time to charge up the batteries.

“It’s a little different than the rest of my routine,” he said. “I’m not focused on the grammar for the paper I’m working on. I’m not focused on some big assignment. I’m not focused on the legislation of the student government association or working on any of the initiatives I’m involved in on campus. Instead I’m simply in the pool working to become a faster swimmer with a bunch of other people.”

Swanson is a first generation college student and neither he nor his parents had any background in swimming when he first began participating. He wasn’t interested in the main sports as a kid but his mother told him he needed to find something to do after school. 

“She told me I wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing,” Swanson remembers. “There was a pamphlet in our school mailboxes for the swim team and she saw it and said ‘You’re going to do this.’ I showed up for the free trial and fell in love with the sport.”

After the family moved to Mitchell, Swanson proceeded to become one of the best swimmers in the state with 25 individual event state titles combined in the South Dakota short and long course championships over his four-year career.

Jumping from South Dakota club swimming to Division I is a significant transition that Swanson works on every day. Last season he placed 10th in the 400 IM (4:13.55), 11th in the 200 fly (1:57.98) and 15th in the 100 fly (52.88) for a Coyote team that finished second at the Summit League Championship behind Denver.

“He’s a hard worker, obviously extremely smart, very driven and very competitive but so down-to-earth,” Mahowald said. “He’s very easy to talk to and all the guys like him. I think they like him even more when he helps them with their homework.”

Swanson’s attraction to USD was in part based on being able to do exactly what he’s done. That is, expand the definition of student-athlete. He has not been afraid to put more on his plate. That goes for his parents, who have been ardent supporters of all his ventures, and also at USD.

“I remember a conversation I had with Jason on my recruiting trip,” Swanson said. “I was like, ‘Just a head’s up – I want to get involved in a lot of different things. I’m very focused on my academics but I want to do a lot of other things, too.’ He said that was totally fine and encouraged me to get out and get involved with the campus community.”

Law school is on the horizon for Swanson, who is studying for his LSAT as he targets an elite list of potential schools. He would like to return to Washington, D.C., next summer and re-engage in the world of politics and advocacy. 

In the meantime, he’ll continue to make himself useful.

“The level of support I’ve experienced at USD is incredible,” he said. “The professors are accommodating, the coaches are accommodating. The advisors I’ve had, especially in the honors program, have been incredible. It seems like everyone I’ve dealt with here is more than happy to go above and beyond the requirements of their job.”