by Ethan Sanders

People Editor

If you ever visit campus during a swim meet, you’ll probably hear athletes, students, and parents alike chanting senior Matt Driscoll’s name. The record-breaking Driscoll is a major asset to the LGHS team with his breathtaking speed and his inspirational speeches that anyone can rally behind.

This first semester is a stress-filled time when most seniors are lost in a frenzy writing college essays and filling out applications; however, Driscoll remains calm and composed because he already knows what his future holds. Earlier this year in July, he announced his commitment to continue his swimming and academic career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. However, UCSB was not the only school bidding to recruit Driscoll, as Harvard pursued him as well. 

After thoughtful deliberation and taking recruitment trips to both schools, Driscoll explained his choice, saying “I was more impressed with the program at [UC] Santa Barbara and they were very interested in me, so the choice was simple. Plus, who doesn’t want to go to college on the beach?”

With the arduous road of collegiate athletics ahead of him, this future Gaucho is already training hard to stay in shape. Six mornings a week he wakes up to his alarm blaring before the sun has even risen, signaling him to roll out of bed and prepare for his 5:30 swim practice with his club team, De Anza Cupertino Aquatics (DACA). With DACA, Driscoll competes in various meets and the annual Junior Nationals where he races swimmers from all over the country. Driscoll’s DACA practices push him to his limit. Despite being a manageable length of ninety minutes, the practices are “ridiculously hard, but definitely preparing [him] for [his] future in swimming,” he states. 

The star swimmer prepares in other ways than just training with DACA. Driscoll frequently works out at home, but tries to stay away from weight lifting in hopes not to strain or pull any muscles. Instead, he does a lot of calisthenics and a shocking amount of wall-sits. Driscoll also keeps an eye on his diet to make sure his body gets only the best fuel. He consciously fills his body with nutrient rich and super healthy foods such as “almonds, vegetables, or milk, and usually three to four eggs for breakfast.” Driscoll even went through a dieting stint during his sophomore year where he would eat loads of raw spinach, but had to stop because “the taste got old and [he] simply couldn’t bear it anymore.”

Despite currently swimming for DACA and looking towards college already, this Wildcat has not lost his determination to perform well during the high school season. As a seasoned swimmer, Driscoll frequents SCVAL League Championships and CCS and even brings home titles for Los Gatos, such as first place in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Driscoll also holds three official school records for the 200 Meter Individual Medley, 100 Meter Backstroke, and 400 Meter Freestyle Relay and four other unofficial record-breaking times that he would first need to perform at an official school meet to make them count.

Swimming is not the only trick up Driscoll’s sleeve as he is a jack of all trades and master of many. When he’s not in the pool, you can find him jamming out on the guitar, tickling the ivories, or juggling bowling pins. Driscoll is looking forward to the school season and swimming for the NCAA Division I team and is more than ready to be studying by the beach.