As sections for the Trojans Swim and Dive team approach quickly, creating a lineup of swimmers for various events becomes increasingly urgent. While many swimmers choose a stroke to focus and specialize in, one athlete on the Trojans Swim and Dive team embraces his versatility in being able to swim any event. Although only able to join the varsity team in his junior year despite being on varsity as a freshman at his previous school, junior Finn Cox has made a great splash on the team.
Cox’s swim career started at the age of four when he began at his local pool, taking his newfound sport to the next level at age six. “I’d continue [swimming] for 11 years. When I was nine, I started swimming year-round at the University of Minnesota and did that from third to eighth grade,” he said.
Although Cox’s current skill set consists of being able to swim every event, this flexibility did not come without years of practice. Having become a jack-of-all-trades, throughout his years of growth and development, Cox found that he could learn any stroke with ease rather than master one. To him, the closest thing to a specialty was the breaststroke. “When I was really little, I was good at backstroke. Then in late elementary [and] middle school, I swam freestyle and butterfly,” Cox said. “Then, freshman and sophomore year, I swam breaststroke, and this year I’ve swam every event but the 500 freestyle.”
Through years of year-round swimming in multiple styles, not only has Cox gained proficiency in every stroke, but a perfect record in his first year on the team. “My sophomore year I transferred to SPA and joined the Trojans Swim team, joined with Highland, but because I was a transfer, I was not allowed to swim varsity,” he said.
However, this setback did not stop Cox from sweeping other swimmers at meets: “I became self-dubbed ‘JV captain’ and went the entire season without losing a race.”

Cox’s confidence in being able to swim any event has also led him to take charge on the varsity team as a leader, hoping to become captain next year. His multi-faceted expertise in every stroke has allowed him to help fill the roles in swim meets that the team may have been short of before.
“This year, while not a captain, I began taking a stronger part in the team, consistently winning races in whatever our team lacked depth in,” he said.
Although initially facing challenges around his spot on the team, Cox’s work and dedication to the sport have allowed him to boast a wide arsenal of different strokes and have proved to be advantageous in times of need.
Section Finals for the Trojans Swim and Dive team will be held on Feb. 23 at Art Downey Aquatics Center.