Faith Johnson is swimming fast as she prepares to be a Golden Gopher
SUSSEX, Wis. (BVM) – University of Minnesota commit Faith Johnson has a simple plan for the final half of her senior year of high school.
“Just have fun, enjoy it and swim fast before I head to college,” Johnson said.
The senior at Sussex Hamilton has already been doing that. In November she took second at the WIAA
state meet in the 100 fly and third in the 100 back. She has also been paying attention to her future team’s times in her events and is keeping pace with them.
“My 100 back is really close,” Johnson said.
She still wants to work on her 100 fly but Johnson has been trending in the right direction for a long time now. She had loved to swim since first taking swimming lessons and then when she stopped doing gymnastics when she was 12, it was all swimming from that point on.
“It’s been swimming ever since,” Johnson said
“I still absolutely love it.”
Johnson loved the sport but it wasn’t until she was 14 that she realized she could take her swimming to the next level. That year she made tremendous strides forward and was able to drop a lot of time.
“That was kind of the year or I guess the moment where I realized that I was pretty good at what I was doing and I could get to the level I wanted to be at,” Johnson said.
She had another moment that showed her how good she was becoming when she accomplished a goal she had set for herself around the same time she started to focus on swimming. She qualified for the Olympic Trials.
“I set that goal for myself when I watched the 2016 Olympic Trials,” Johnson said.
In November of 2020 she qualified. The experience was one she won’t soon forget and allowed her to learn from the people she hopes to compete with soon.
“It was just cool to learn from all the athletes that are just so much better than you,” Johnson said. “Getting to watch how they prepare for their races, how they compete, just like everything they do to prepare for these really high level competitions and races. I got to experience it first hand which is not something you can get out of a lot of local meets.”
Soon after qualifying for the Olympic Trials, she also announced her verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota, then this past November, she officially signed.
“This year being able to finally take that official (visit) and sign made it feel a lot more real,” Johnson said.
It ended a recruiting process that had been interesting due to COVID restrictions. However, Johnson had still been able to make strong connections with her future coaches and her teammates through zoom calls.
She will be joining a team that is currently ranked in the top-25 in the nation and has had success at sending swimmers to the Olympics. For Johnson, it is a great opportunity and one she is excited about because she relishes the opportunity to train with people who are competing at such a high level.
“I think it’s really good to have people that are so much better than you to push you and to be like, ‘Well they’re doing it so if I just keep up with them, then maybe I can do it, too,’” Johnson said.
The fact that it was Minnesota she had chosen was also fitting because the first official recruiting call she ever had was with Minnesota. In that sense, it has come full circle and although she can’t wait to head up to Minneapolis, Johnson is focusing on having fun for now.
“I just want to have as much fun as I can these last however many months before I leave,” Johnson said.
