Aron Varga to Swim at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
By FRED KRONER
Aron Varga’s sport of choice involved one of the few where he didn’t need to run extensively.
“I tried soccer, turns out I didn’t like running and would much rather talk to the referee,” Varga recalled.
“I wanted to do a sport to be able to stay active,” Varga said. “I did like playing hockey a lot, but my head was unfortunately too big for my helmet when I was little, and the uncomfortableness scarred me from playing hockey ever again.
“Finally, the only sport that didn’t involve running, we were left with: swimming. The second I jumped into my first practice I knew that this sport was one that I could call mine.”
Varga’s point is well-taken.
Except for golf – which requires extensive walking – the only other IHSA sports for boys where running is not imperative, either in competition or practice, besides swimming are other water sports, bass fishing and water polo.
At age 13, Varga began swimming with few expectations.
“When I first started swimming, I didn’t initially plan on swimming in college,” he said. “I just found the sport fun and most importantly, it kept me in shape.
“Sometimes when I wake up at 5 a.m. to go to practice I question why I picked this sport, but at swim meets where all the work paid off, the question answers itself.”
He has no regrets about the decision.
“If I could go back, I would not pick a new sport,” Varga said. “Swimming is a great sport to stay in shape and another thing that’s really good is for time management.
“Balancing school work with naps and swimming is way tougher than it sounds. Naps are mandatory when you’ve had morning practice.”
Varga will need to continue to be conscious of time management. The recent Mahomet-Seymour graduate has committed to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, in Terre Haute, Ind., where he will swim and major in mathematics and data sciences.
During his years at M-S, the 6-foot-1 Varga transitioned from an unheralded swimmer to a school-record-setting swimmer.
Erich O’Donnell had an upclose look at Varga’s development the last two years as he took over coaching duties for the Bulldogs’ program.
“Aron has been a great kid to have on the team,” O’Donnell said. “I’ve watched him mature as a person and athlete, and it’s been fun coaching him.
“He’s very smart and I’m sure he will do great at the next level given how driven he is.”
O’Donnell didn’t immediately predict a collegiate future for Varga.
“When I met Aron, I wasn’t sure if he had what it would take to make it to the next level,” O’Donnell said. “I’m pleased to see how far he has come and I’m proud of his accomplishments.”
Varga, a team captain, established all-time M-S marks individually in the 50-yard freestyle (21.97 seconds), 200-yard individual medley (1:56.70) and the 100-yard breaststroke (59.76 seconds). He set each of the school records as a senior.
He was also part of two record-setting relays, joining Emmett Kearns, Matthew Kirby and Owen Kearns on the state-qualifying 200-yard freestyle relay (1:29.70). He teamed up with the same three teammates for a M-S record time of 3:23.70 in the 400-yard freestyle.
Varga advanced to state as a junior in the breaststroke (placing 39th) and in the individual medley as a senior (placing 34th). The 200-yard freestyle relay unit finished in a tie for 30th at state in 2024.
Varga credits O’Donnell for helping him to achieve at a high level.
“The person that helped me the most throughout the season is Erich O’Donnell,” Varga said. “He helped me during both high school and club season and pushed me to be my best.
“There isn’t really much time to do off-season training since swimming is an all-year sport but outside of swimming, I do mobility and flexibility work.”
During the club season, Varga would practice eight times a week with the workouts ranging from 90 minutes to two hours.
“During high school, we would also follow a similar workout plan, but the frequent swim meets made it a little more difficult to make all eight practices as consistently comparatively to club swim,” Varga added.
The teen-ager’s commitment to swimming intensified during the second half of his high school career.
“Once I reach college, I not only want to focus on improving as an athlete, but I also want to better myself as a person,” Varga said. “I do believe however that I am going to improve during college swimming because the practices are more geared towards certain strokes whereas club and high school swimming had to be more diverse and not isolated.
“I’m not really sure why I didn’t lock in until junior year. Maybe it’s because I was lazy and didn’t want to put the work in or when I was younger I thought I had all the time in the world to improve.
“I started working towards college swimming my sophomore year and started taking things more seriously. The years prior to that I still swam and competed, but it never hit me that I was close to graduating high school and the next steps (college) would come faster than ever.”
As Varga considered his college options, he kept one point prominently in mind.
“At first, I was quite unsure of which college to attend, but my parents (Emese Poszet and Csaba Varga) influenced my decision greatly,” he said. “We first laid out the main things we looked for when I was going to attend college.
“Every single time, we made a rough draft and listed out the things we were looking for. Academics always ended out on top.”
Varga never deviated from his priorities as he searched for his collegiate home.
“I personally like to swim a lot, but I would much rather focus on my academics and my future once my four years of college swimming come to an end,” he said. “I also ideally wanted to be close to my family because family is also very important to me.”
He had overtures from Division I, Division II and Division III universities, and settled for Division III Rose-Hulman, which has approximately 2,250 students.
“We had a large list of options to choose from,” Varga said, “but I personally was swayed towards D-III schools because the ones that were reaching out to me were more academically rigorous than the Division 1 schools.
“Academics were more important to me than going to a D-1 school just to say I swam at a D-1 school and not be well-prepared for my future after swimming.”
One of Varga’s other final choices was to bypass collegiate swimming entirely.
“When it was coming down to the wire, I was honestly debating between not even swimming in college and doing club swimming at Purdue, but Coach (Keith) Crawford (from Rose-Hulman) reached out to me at just the right time,” Varga said. “He reached out, I visited the school and realized that it was a perfect fit.”
He expects to focus on the breaststroke and the individual medley, but added, “I’m a pretty versatile swimmer, so Coach could probably put me in any event and I would do fine.
“I have already met a portion of the team and have been talking to the other freshmen and I am pretty confident that I’m going to be able to fit in.”
Rose-Hulman is located approximately 100 miles from Varga’s home.
“I am pretty close with my family, and it will be pretty difficult to first overcome the homesickness, but I think I will be fine,” Varga said. “I also only live a little over an hour away from my parents so even if I do get a little homesick, I can visit over the weekends.”
At M-S, Varga was one of two seniors on the 2024 roster and one of two seniors who will pursue the sport in college. Owen Kearns has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
