Michael Winget is on a mission. His short-term goal is to qualify in the backstroke, his preferred stroke, for the U.S. Swimming Junior National Championship held in December at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga. "Qualifying at Junior Nationals would help me take another step closer to swimming competitively in college," the new CVU junior said. "At that meet there will be many college coaches who will have the opportunity to see me perform. To qualify I need to take three or four seconds off my backstroke. I think I can do that by the end of the summer." This is not boastful nor arrogance talking. Just a statement of fact from a committed and hard-working athlete: pure and simple. Winget’s individual best time in the 100-meter backstroke is 55.95. Presently a record is held by teammate Patrick Murphy with a 55.61. How little it seems Winget needs to improve to qualify for nationals belies how much effort is required to shave seconds from competitive times.

Winget usually competes in three main events: the 100 and 200-meter backstroke and the 100-meter butterfly. Winget admits to a couple of small breaks with tradition as well as a pre-meet ritual or two. "I’m reluctant to shave my body like other swimmers. As opposed to all other swimmer’s strokes, the backstroke begins in the water; whenever I compete in the backstroke I have to jump down and touch the bottom of the pool before the start," he said. "I also have an unusual start: most swimmers throw their hands right into streamline whereas I throw them back and then into streamline. It’s a little weird but it works for me." And that’s an understatement. Winget holds GMA short course records in nearly every age division. His first, at age eight, was in the 200-meter freestyle relay. And the list goes on and on.

According to GMA head coach Laura Matuszak competitive swimming isn’t the only thing Winget cares about. "Michael is not only an exceptionally hard worker, a strong vocal team leader, and an excellent racer, he is a fine human being who cares about his teammates and the progress of the team," she emphasized. "He really creates the heart of our GMA swim team."

Winget was born in Ogden, Utah on March 12, 1994, where he lived briefly before his family relocated to Shelburne. His family includes parents, Betty and Joe, and four sisters: Caitlin, a senior at the University of Michigan, Meghan, a junior at UVM, Sarah, a CVU freshman, and Emily, a seventh grader at the Shelburne Community School, and their nine-month-old Bernese mountain dog named Stella.

Following in his older sisters footsteps, Winget began swimming at the age of five at the Burlington Tennis Club (BTC). Three years later, he began swimming competitively for Green Mountain Aquatics (GMA). For years he has does both: year-round swimming at GMA and summer swimming for BTC. And all that swimming is paying off.

In fact, it did so recently. In answer to a question Winget recounts his proudest moment to date, "I was able to swim one of my favorite races, the 100 backstroke, at New England Opens. I swam in the morning and that night at finals," he said. "I swam faster at night and qualified for the top heat at sectionals in Florida this past March. That was cool."

Winget dabbled in soccer, baseball, and tennis before he gave them up to focus on swimming. But it’s not all about the swimming. For fun he enjoys Frisbee, reading, playing video games, and talking sports, especially college football, with his friends. In the fall, Winget will become an officer of Key Club, the largest club at CVU.

Winget has already taken the plunge to reach his current goal to be recruited to swim competitively in college; he is presently focused on maintaining his high grades and qualifying for Junior Nationals. From what he’s demonstrated thus far, I’d say he’s doing swimmingly, wouldn’t you?