Gunnar Wise might be the fastest swimmer at Fountain Hills High School this upcoming year. Wise and Grace Clark each qualified and represented Fountain Hills at the state swim meet last year, but Clark graduated this past May, and Wise is entering his senior year this fall.

It will be Wise’s fourth year on the high school swim team, and he wants to improve on his times and break more records next season. Last season, he set a school record for the 100 breaststroke (1:05.42) and took 13th place at state in the event. He also finished eighth in the state 50 freestyle race (22.99).

Wise remembers taking swim lessons when he was young, but he never swam competitively before high school. After his sophomore season, Wise joined the Scottsdale aquatic club, and over Fourth of July weekend this year, he raced in the Arizona swimming long course senior open championships at Chandler High School.

“Joining club really helped,” Wise said. “That’s what got me to state.”

Wise swam the 50 free, 100 free, 100 breaststroke and 200 IM at the club state meet. Athletes swim all four strokes in the 200 Individual Medley (IM) – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly – and Wise would not have set a new school record in the event (2:16.84) without his club’s help.

“It took me until my club season in between my sophomore and junior year,” Wise said. “That’s when I finally learned how to do [butter]fly. I did not know how to do it until pretty recently.”

Wise spends most of his free time swimming. His club competes in one to two meets per month, and next year’s season starts two weeks after the state championship. During the school year, Wise did not attend many club events. Rather, he focused on the school swim team and also ran track in the spring.

Wise ran cross country and played football and basketball for Fountain Hills Middle School. He also wrestled as a freshman until a back injury sidelined him and made him give up the sport.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Wise said. “I’ve previously hurt my back in taekwondo, and I kind of reinjured it. It hurt to do certain wrestling moves, so I just thought it was too much stress on my back.”

Swimming is the least hurtful sport on the body, according to Wise. He said he doesn’t feel stress on his back when he twists to do a flip turn at the end of the pool, and he added that he usually pulls ahead in races after he flips and does his underwater breaststroke pullout.

After reaching the end of the pool, Wise turns over and pushes off the wall with his feet. He keeps his arms forward in a streamlined position, and he does one dolphin kick, one breaststroke pull and one breaststroke kick before coming up for air.

“It’s hard to realize how much you have to think about when you’re racing,” Wise said. “Some people might just look at it like you’re swimming down and back, but there’s so many technical things that go into it. You’re constantly thinking about how much you’re breathing, and where your arms are going, and when the wall is coming up, and what you have to do to flip turn as fast as you can. There’s a lot more that goes into it than you would think.”

Wise actually qualified for state in four individual events last year but was only allowed to compete in two of them. The only way to compete in more than two is to qualify for a team relay, and Wise wants to see that happen this year. He said his relay team has come close to qualifying in the past two seasons, and last year Wise set a new school record (4:08.82) for the 400 freestyle relay with the team of graduated senior Josef Johnson, rising senior Raith Trevena and rising junior Brendan Davies.

Wise is in a class full of swimmers. Out of the 18 swimmers from last season, eight will be seniors in 2023. The Falcons have already started practicing three times a week this summer, and Wise said there are several new faces that add to the talent pool.

The returning rising senior are JP Cahill, Elizabeth Franzone, Dylan Horsfall, Space Kingphakorn, Alexis Sommerschield, Raith Trevena, Aly Wilson and Wise. New swimmers have come in the form of transfer students, rising freshmen, and players recruiting friends.

This season will be the fifth swimming season in program history for Fountain Hills. Patti Shultz has been the head coach each year and will continue to coach this fall. The Falcons are set to have their first swim meet of the season against Paradise Honors and BASIS Phoenix at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, at the Melrose Paradise Recreation Club.