Sterling Heights

Ford swimmer Dischler earns county’s top honor

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by David Schreiber Utica Ford II senior Jack Dischler hugs a teammate after being honored as the Senior Swimmer of the Meet at the Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship Feb. 4 at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. Photo by David Schreiber Utica Ford II senior Jack Dischler hugs a teammate after being honored as the Senior Swimmer of the Meet at the Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship Feb. 4 at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North.

Jack Dischler explains it with a simple formula: “You get out what you put in.”

That’s how the Utica Ford II senior summed up the amount of work it’s taken to get to the point where he was named the Senior Swimmer of the Meet at the Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship Feb. 4.

But it’s a formula that can easily be applied to any aspect of Dischler — the co-valedictorian of his class who will head to Wayne State University after graduation to swim and study in the field of biomedical engineering.

“I’ve been working hard for a long time,” he said about his work in the pool.

As for his studies?

“Very important.”

“I’ve always tried to take the hardest classes I could, and try to excel in them,” Dischler said. “School always comes first.”

Dischler admitted to being “a bit of a perfectionist.”

“There’s always a way to improve, and I try to emphasize that in everything,” he said.

His coach at Ford, Dave Smith, said the swimmer thrives on being challenged.

“It’s been a joy to work with him,” the coach said. “The example that he sets, more importantly in the classroom, as well as his work effort in the pool.”

Smith said that while Dischler is not very vocal, he leads by example. He has qualified for the state meet all four years at Ford.

“He’s humble,” the coach said. “What he does in the water, it sets a good example for all the other kids. When you’ve got a kid like Jack on a team, the guys know what it takes to get to that level, and they follow suit with the work effort. He definitely sets a great example for everyone else in what he does.”

At the county meet, held at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, Dischler won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle races for the third consecutive year. He also anchored a pair of top-10 relays for Ford.

In the 400 freestyle relay, Dischler teamed up with Mike Rykaczewski, Justin Chan and Sunny Bhullar for a second-place finish. In the 200 freestyle relay, Dischler joined Chan, Robert Henigan and Bhullar to finish seventh. The Falcons, the Macomb Area Conference White Division dual-meet champions, finished third overall at the county meet.

Smith said the prestigious award at the county meet was a “nice accomplishment” for Dischler, especially amid his intense training schedule.

“That’s pretty cool for him to do as well as he did,” the coach said. “He’s really beat up and tired right now, more so than he ever has been in the past three years.

“For him to swim like he did, that was pretty cool.”

Dischler called the award “a great honor,” albeit an unexpected one.

“It was completely unexpected. I didn’t even know what to do,” he said. “I had it in the back of my mind, thinking about it, but I didn’t really think I was going to get it. It was really cool when they said I won.”

The Falcons’ standout said his ultimate goal is to reach All-
American status at the state meet.

“That’d be amazing, really cool,” he said.

Dischler began swimming at the club level when he was 9. By the time he reached high school, he stopped playing other sports, so he could dedicate himself to the water year-round.

The hard work has paid off, both in the pool and the classroom, as he’ll attend Wayne on academic and athletic scholarships.

“It’s pretty exciting. I’m excited to move on to the next level and train,” he said.

But for the next few weeks, he’ll keep making waves for Ford.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Smith said of having Dischler around. “When he gets up on that block, he just transforms. His mindset is, he’s going to go out there and race, and he wants to win.

“Every time he gets up on that block, you know something special is going to happen.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040. Follow Jon on Twitter.