Student-Athlete of the Week – Dylan Kotz
The pool is a big part of Dylan Kotz’s life.
“Swimming has definitely kind of shaped me as a person," said the La Quinta swim captain. "There’s things about the sport that makes you want to work harder for it and just keep going on, pushing on.”
“He has a great leadership role with all the kids, getting them motivated, getting them on the right track," said La Quinta's head swim coach Stephanie Henderson. "He’s also a very diverse swimmer, so it’s very well to see that as a captain he’ll say, ‘I don’t need to swim this event, I’ll do it for the team and swim another event.’”
Kotz started swimming competitively when he was 10-years-old. The racing element of the sport had him hooked.
“I love sprinting and that kind of just gets my adrenaline going and once I start going it’s just amazing. I loved it,” he said.
He even spends his off time by the pool, working as a lifeguard.
“I kind of always liked helping people,” Kotz said.
That includes his teammates.
“I like to go out and get people motivated, help them if they ever have any other questions… just little things like that. I think it goes a long way,” he said.
“He’s hilarious! He knows how to make everyone laugh. He’s very positive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a negative comment come out of his mouth before,” Henderson said.
Kotz wants to continue helping people in the future as a physical therapist. He’s headed to Central Michigan University to major in kinesiology and yes, spend some more time in the pool.
