The swim story of Sam Lorenz begins early.
"I started when I was 6 years old at SWAT, in Franklin," Sam Lorenz says. "So I lived there for a while and I swam and it was fun."
Now at the ripe old age of 18, he wants to follow in the footsteps of the greats.
"I have very high goals, in this sport," Lorenz says. "And part of that's the Olympics. I wanna win gold and I wanna set world records and I wanna do great things. Like Garrett Weber-Gale."
Lorenz will race in the 100 backstroke at the Olympic Trials this summer.
"The last couple of years it was something that I wanted to do, was get that Trials cut, so I could go to this meet in Indy," Lorenz says. "Because it's, it's a big deal. It's pretty cool. It's gonna be different than any other meet I've ever been to. It's gonna be, U.S. Nationals times 10."
Regardless of how he does at the trials, Sam will swim for the Badgers at the University of Wisconsin, just like his Dad.
"They built this new pool," Lorenz says. "And then I got to talk to Matt Martinez and Yuri Suguiyama and I was like, this is the place. Because they are, it's legit. It's on the upswing. And my Dad swam there."
And like the small but feisty Badger, Sam Lorenz will fight, like most Wisconsinites.
"I kind of like being the underdog," Lorenz says. "It's fun. Because I get to prove people wrong. The only thing that matters is what's on the scoreboard at the end of the day. So, you just gotta keep working hard. That's, don't complain. That's the biggest thing I've learned here."
If you haven't noticed, Sam stands out in swim due to his hair.
"People know me because of that," Lorenz says. "Like they see me on deck? At, we were in Irvine for Juniors? And like people can see me from across the pool. And they're like, yeah, that's Sam!"
Even if Sam Lorenz doesn't qualify for the Olympics this year, he says could be on Team USA for the Junior Pan Pacifics in Australia this summer, for the top swimmers 18 and under.
