By Savannah Masterson
Social Media Editor
For sophomore Jake Brown, swimming runs in the family.
His father was involved in water sports throughout high school, and Brown said he encouraged him to take up water polo, “but there’s not a lot of water polo around here so he pushed me to swim in college.”
With many recognitions from this season such as Collegeswimming.com as Conference Swimmer of the Week in November, Brown has been a strong asset to the Washingotn College men’s swim team. He is a consistent time-holder in the 50, 100, and 200-yard freestyle. He also made several relay team top times. Brown has shown strength and dedication to the sport as well as to the team.
“I think the team has come a long way,” he said. “Seeing the record board change a lot, I think the team itself before I got here evolved a lot and got better. And I think coming in I’m able to contribute to some of the relays. I think we’ll have a really good chance to win some races at Conference Championships.”
Brown said his father’s goal was for him to swim competitively for a Division I program, and Brown reached that goal. He swam for the Division I St. Bonaventure Bona Wolves for one year and dove right into the WC Men’s Swim team upon his transfer.
At WC, the Shoremen have won five meets.
“We have a lot of talent coming from a lot of different directions,” Brown said.
Brown said that he thinks his teammates will do well at the conference meet, and has confidence in his ability to perform well in his relay races.
Looking back on the season, Brown recalls a moment during the mid-season from a meet at Randolph Macon College in Virginia with sophomore Aiden Sullivan.
“I’ve been stuck at a 47 low in the 100 freestyle for a long time, and when I finally broke it, it was like 46.9 so I just got under my PR. But right when I finished I looked over at Sullivan and he was in the final. He gave me a thumbs-up and it was just a really good swim for both of us to break 47 this early in the season. I think I look at that moment going forward to Conferences, just having other people like him around, I think we’ll do well.”
Brown originates from Centreville and has recently declared a history major. Swimming at the start of age seven, he has been a part of club and high school teams, and was recognized for several appearances in the Maryland state championship, according to WC Varsity Athletics website.
The Shoremen have won five meets this season and will be going to the Centennial Conference Championship on Thursday, Feb. 22.