Owen Kearns to Swim at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
By FRED KRONER
Owen Kearns tried.
In his younger years, he tried the sporting options many consider typical for his beginner age group: soccer, baseball and football.
There was a common theme to each venture.
“I was horrible at every other sport,” Kearns said.
So, he tried something else.
He jumped into swimming.
“I thought it would be fun,” Kearns said. “As a kid, my favorite part about the sport was just having fun with my friends.”
Despite the enjoyment, the results were similar to what he experienced in the ball sports.
“I wasn’t very good at swimming,” he said.
That fact encouraged him to try a different approach.
“I started putting effort in during the end of my sophomore year,” Kearns said.
Presto!
Well, maybe not presto, but he was soon establishing himself as one of Mahomet-Seymour’s top swimmers since the program was formed.
Kearns was one of two seniors on this year’s boys’ swimming squad. He is also one of two seniors who will pursue the sport in college next year.
He has committed to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The opportunity started to take shape once he fully committed himself to swimming.
“Owen has also been a great kid to have on the team,” M-S coach Erich O’Donnell said. “He works very hard and it’s that work ethic that has gotten him to this level.
“He has grown both physically and mentally, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Owen when swimming at the next level.”
The 6-foot Kearns was a team captain as a senior. Besides qualifying for the state meet in the 500-yard freestyle, and with the 200-yard freestyle relay, he set five individual school records and was a member of two M-S record-setting relays.
He owns records (all set during the 2023-24 season) in:
–100-yard freestyle, 49.41 seconds;
–200-yard freestyle, 1:46.00;
–500-yard freestyle, 4:46.81;
–100-yard backstroke, 57.74 seconds;
–100-yard butterfly, 54.73 seconds;
–200 freestyle relay, 1:29.70 (with Aron Varga, Emmett Kearns and Matthew Kirby);
–400-yard freestyle relay: 3:23.70 (with Emmett Kearns, Matthew Kirby and Aron Varga).
Owen Kearns just needed to look around the pool to find motivation for kicking his work ethic into a higher gear.
“As I saw my teammates getting better than me, I felt very discouraged and realized that I really needed to take the sport seriously if I ever wanted to do something with it,” he said. “So, I decided to push myself to become a bigger, better swimmer so I could be on the same level as them.”
Several coaches were instrumental in his steady progression.
“The key to my development was hard work and effort,” Kearns said. “After my sophomore year, I realized that I needed to push myself harder than most so I could catch up to my teammates who seemed so far ahead of me.
“Since then, I’ve been practicing almost every day of the week, waking up at 5 a.m. for drylands, and pushing myself harder and harder. I swim year-round with the Champaign YMCA Heat and some of the people who’ve been most instrumental in my development are Coach Erich O’Donnell, Coach Will Barker and Coach Chris Freeburg.
“I couldn’t have gotten this far without them.”
Kearns had a dream of competing in college throughout high school career, but didn’t know if the goal would come to fruition.
“I wasn’t completely sure whether I was good enough to compete at such a level until about my junior year season,” he said. “At about the end of my junior year, I decided to start looking at different college swim teams and take note of which ones took my interest.”
Based on those responses, during his senior year, Kearns began applying to many universities.
“During the second semester (of his senior year), I decided to go with Green Bay because of how much I loved the coach, team and the college itself,” Kearns said.
He hadn’t limited his college inquiries, however, to schools that responded.
“The recruiting process initially was not what I expected,” Kearns said. “Most coaches for colleges you want to go to won’t be the ones to reach out to you, and you’ll have to reach out to them.
“I initially reached out to the Green Bay coach because I was interested in their swimming program, and he responded within 10 minutes to coordinate a meet-up.”
Kearns now has a better grasp on recruitment.
“What I’ve learned from my recruiting process is that you’ve got to be the one to reach out to schools you’re interested in,” Kearns said, “and they most probably won’t reach out to you.”
Kearns ultimately set up multiple college visits, but wound up taking just one.
“Green Bay was the first place I chose to go,” he said. “After seeing the campus, meeting the coaches and team, and just getting a general feel for the college, I knew that I wanted to attend Green Bay, so I had all of my other visits canceled.”
Kearns expects to focus on the 200-yard butterfly, 500-yard freestyle, the 1,000-yard freestyle as well as the mile in college.
“I’ve met many of the members of the Green Bay swim team while visiting and they’re all extremely nice, great people,” Kearns said. “I expect that I’ll get along very well with them and I’m sure that we’ll have a great first year.”
Though he has been swimming for seven years, it has only been a serious endeavor for the past two years. He believes that means there’s a tremendous upside in his potential.
“Since I’ve only recently started giving swimming my all, I feel like I still have a lot of room to improve and get quicker during my time in college,” Kearns said. “Hopefully I can contribute as much as possible to Green Bay and help score some points for the team even as a freshman.”
One part of swimming has remained unchanged for Kearns over the years.
“I find that swimming is a huge stress-reliever for myself, and I love seeing myself improve as an athlete,” he said. “I also find challenging yourself to push beyond your limit is extremely fun.”
His continued work will help determine the level of his scholarship.
“In my swimming program, scholarships are given out based on how well you’re seeded to do in conference in certain events,” Kearns said. “I’m already close to reaching that goal and I’m sure that I’ll earn a scholarship in the near future.”
M-S was 12-7 during the 2023-24 season and placed third in the 11-school sectional meet. Kearns finished 33rd at state in the 500 freestyle and the Bulldogs’ 200-yard freestyle relay ended in 30th place.
He plans on majoring in pre-professional law and wants to work as a lawyer.
The distance from Mahomet to Green Bay is approximately 350 miles.
“I’m extremely close with my family members and I’m sure the transition to college won’t be a walk in the park,” Kearns said. “My parents help me with a lot, even little stuff, and moving to college will be a huge adjustment, but I’m sure that I’ll adapt to my environment.”
