Featured Athlete: Benn Schmatz

Four year varsity swimmer, senior Ben Schmatz, talks about his years swimming at East, the rest of the season and his years to come.

How many years have you swam varsity?

All four years. My freshman year we won state, sophomore and junior year we got second place.

How is this season different than years before?

Years past we kind of relied on a large amount of seniors and juniors to carry us through, and this year we have five seniors, compared to my freshman year when we had nine or ten seniors, so there’s a lot of young kids that are hopefully going to do really well and help push us from the bottom to the top.

Is there more pressure for you this year being a senior?

Yeah it’s a lot of fun going into state, but yeah there is that pressure, which is a good thing, but I don’t think so.

What was it like winning league?

Well its our twelfth in a row, so it was fun. Next year it’ll be up to them.

Do you see a good potential in the underclassmen?

Oh yeah, definitely. I’m very confident in their abilities next year.

What has your proudest moment been this season?

This season I won the 100-breastroke and the 200-IM individually at league, and the 200-freestyle relay. As a team, definitely the way we swam the second day at league. There was a lot of intensity and passion.

There are always relationships between teammates, under and upper classmen, how is that different now that you’re a senior?

Yeah I mean I’ve really tried to reach out to the younger and newer kids to bring them into the culture that we have here at East and to teach them about some of the values that we have as a team and what we’re trying to do.

What was your most frustrating moment of the season, if at all?

I’ve never been frustrated. This year’s been a great year, you know we’ve worked and worked since November and we’re peaking at the right time.

What kind of impact has high school swimming had on you?

Its one of the one things that I’ve chosen to do in high school and I’ve put in a lot of effort and focus and time over the last eight or nine years, so when I got to high school and decided to swim, they brought me in and it’s made a huge impact in my life.

Do you see swimming in your future?

Yeah I’m considering going to the Colorado School of Mines, and if I were to go there I would definitely swim.