Her freshman year was good.
Jennifer Wheeler’s sophomore year at Hillsdale College has been even better.
“This year has been quite different,” the 2012 Alma High School graduate said. “I have altered both of my strokes, and it has helped bring my times down. Currently I am ranked second in the GLIAC for the 100 freestyle, fifth in the 200 butterfly, and 10th in the 500 freestyle. I swam the 1000 at our first meet of the season and got a personal record by 19 seconds.”
Wheeler, who plans to study either finance or accounting, is no stranger to success in the pool or in the classroom. At Alma, where she was valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA, she had 16 all-league honors, was conference champion four times, had 13 all-state honors, was the state runner up three times, and had school records in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay.
“My success as a swimmer has been greatly influenced by my coach at Alma, Jeff Huxley,” Wheeler said. “He has helped me build my race strategy, and he has coached me to become the best swimmer I can be even from a very young age. The amount of effort I put into the pool basically determines how well I perform at championship meets. Swimming is an individual sport, so I rely on myself to become faster. This drive to be better has made me become the swimmer I am today.”
Wheeler has upped her expectations at the collegiate level.
“My goals for this year are to obtain B-cuts for nationals in either the 1000 free, 200 fly, or 500 free,” she said. “I would like to make top eight for these events at the GLIAC conference championship, but we will just have to see how the game plays out. I hope to someday swim at nationals.”
To get there, Wheeler knows it’s going to take continued hard work. “Swimming at the collegiate level has been tough but one of the most enjoyable experiences,” she said. “Being a student-athlete is very challenging, but I would never give up this experience. The competition is a lot tougher in this field, but it has helped me bring out the best of me in my races.”
Even though the competition, expectations, and dedication have all increased in college, the pool is still somewhere that Wheeler can go to blow off some steam.
“I keep swimming to this day because it is such an important aspect of my life,” she said. “If I have had a long day at school, I can just go to the pool and it will feel like home. It’s a constant aspect of my life that does not change.”