When you talk about the name Whitaker usually people think Kyle Whitaker or sometimes now even Aaron Whitaker, but everyone seems to forget about Ethan Whitaker, who is actually the twin brother to Aaron. Older brother and twin brother Kyle and Aaron's accomplishments have put Ethan's slightly in the dark. Ethan is a late bloomer considering he went from just missing state his freshman year to getting 2nd in the 200 free and 3rd in the 500 his senior year. "Missing state was a letdown for me. I missed out on competing with Aaron and Blake and the rest of the guys. I was bummed at first but the Sunday night when we were at the High school (after State) Coach Kinel told me I'll do great next year and make it to State and that fueled my sophomore year and beyond." It is not easy to live up to the expectations that someone like Kyle Whitaker has left. The Whitaker twins were being asked to fill some pretty ginormous shoes. "I most definitely felt immense pressure. It of course was all me wanting to live up to my older brother's legacy yet I also did not want to disappoint this new coach I was now under. I had heard many great things about Mr. Kinel and I just hoped I could do for him what my brother did. Other than that, once I sort of got into the distance racing I saw myself forming my own path rather than my brother's." Even though the twins both found their own path to follow it almost seemed like Aaron's was a little more bright. While Ethan was placing 2nd and 3rd in the state of Indiana, his twin brother was breaking its records. "I tell myself that his accomplishments are his and that I have much to learn from him. I use his continued progress as energy to put everything into my races." Ethan does not deny having felt the pressure on numerous occasions to the point where he has thought about just trying something else. But Ethan was born for the water. "It seems every practice I either think that or mutter it under my breath. There were times I would want to try other sports such as lacrosse yet swimming was just fun with all of the friends I had made. What can I say? I enjoy racing not practicing. But I understand racing won't be fun unless I practice and work my best." Ethan and Aaron are brothers, so you wonder, is there ever a sibling rivalry between the two? Aaron has been known for his impressive sprint work in all four strokes and Ethan is known as a very aggressive distance swimmer but they can both do pretty much anything well. "I sort of tell myself to set and reach my own goals, and personally I believe my goals are a bit different. I understand we swim different events mostly so I just use his accomplishments to push myself further in my area of swimming. I believe this works both ways." Strangely enough, as successful as Ethan has been, his path was not his of the choosing. "Well I swim because I have to. As a child I was never given the option or "buffet style" decision making to try other sports like many other boys had. I once played soccer but quit as swimming became more and more time consuming. I guess swimming sort of grew on me and everyday I grew closer to the sport and the competition it brought." So successful that Ethan was apart of the 400 freestyle relay that broke the national high school record back in January. "Having the National record was great. After we broke by only several tenths I was shocked. All year we wanted that record and it was a major relief and joy to finally achieve it. Although, unfortunately, a high school in California has broke it." While the state meet was going on and the Whitaker twins were setting national records, older brother Kyle was setting big ten records of his own. A lot of success in the family. Even older sister Talor was a standout. She was a six time high school state champion. She won the 100 free both her junior & senior year along with a win in the won 200 free as well as 3 relay victories. "I think Talor's story is more like mine in that after her high school career she decided to swim far out of state. Watching her swim throughout her entire high school run gave me the first glimpse of camaraderie I would have on the high school team. Many of my friends were actually Talor's friends yet they were such interesting people and they were all like bigger brothers and sisters to me." Even their parents swam. The mom Lisa swam at Ball State and Steve the father at Wabash. It is clear that this family has a lot to talk about when the Holidays roll around. Ethan made it clear that each year of his high school career he has learned something new that has bettered himself within and out of the pool. "I would say every year I became a better public speaker and leader. Coach has taught me so many things along with the team itself. Learning to always show sportsmanship and rise to the occasion made me a better teammate as the years progressed and it was fun this year working with the new freshmen who have high aspirations themselves." So how does a Whitaker get into this sport? "I believe I started at the same time my siblings did, about age 4 or 5. We first did a Learn to Swim program in which we would do all sorts of things in the middle school pool. Next stage was club with Coach Jim Voss. This sort of goes back to my other answer in that I didn't really get to choose whether I wanted to swim or not." Of course Ethan has many other hobbies like many other swimmers. It cannot be swimming 24/7 for anyone or they would go insane. "Well if the team is involved I enjoy playing ultimate Frisbee or paintball. I also really love guns and I frequently attend local ranges. If the weather is nasty I will play some video games with my older brother most of the time." Like all twins people see them as one. And for the twins, that can be found rather frustrating. Aaron and Ethan do things differently in the pool. "Well one thing is yardage in practice. Although most guys on the team do what we call "distance practice" very few of the guys actually do all the pace work as well. Also on stroke sets I tend to focus always on fly and IM whereas Aaron usually has a good mixture between back and fly. I know I swim different events but I like to think of my stroke itself as a difference maker although I bet most Chesterton guys have a similar free stroke." Ethan is a senior now and even though he is heading off the the Naval Academy, the discussion was not the easiest. "I want to say from the very start (sophomore year or so) Michigan was first. Later, Navy seemed very appealing. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be in the Navy. I first saw Navy's team at my brother's first NCAA meet. I looked into it more and the program seemed to fit where I wanted to take my life. At the time of recruiting my top 3 were Navy, Michigan, and Purdue. All three had great engineering programs as well as Division 1 swimming. Yet Navy also had the aspect of earning a commission as an officer in the Navy upon graduation and I figured the school had everything I wanted. The school itself also offered a rich history of tradition and a rigorous schedule, which (despite the tough scheduling) seemed like a dream school. Another aspect was the coaches and the team itself. I can tell you all three teams had the greatest coaches the US has to offer. All were very aware of the potential they saw in me and were always great communicators. The team guys on Navy were all very motivated individuals. Although during my official visit some midshipmen seemed a bit depressed, come the football games and championship season I bet they were proud of the choice they made. Guys like that, in fact, an entire student body like that, one full of aspiring individuals, is what I truly wanted." Ethan is very close with his brother and the rest of the Chesterton team so it must be a little weird to know that he will be swimming against a few of them on a different team. " I guess at first it seems odd but honestly Aaron and even Blake have been opponents of mine for years so to me it will just be us Chesterton guys wearing different caps." So is the next step for the Chesterton senior star? I guess the next step is swimming at Navy and then serving in the Navy post-graduation. Next step for Aaron is Michigan and the next step for Kyle is post-grad education and Club Wolverine for 2016 Olympic Trials. Some of my future plans in the pool would be qualifying for NCAA's all four years at Navy as well as getting into open water nationals and the U.S. Open. Out of the pool I hope to get a degree in Aerospace Engineering or Oceanography, In the Navy I hope to pursue either a pilot position or EOD, although I have much time to think about that as I learn more about all of the communities the Navy has to offer. I am swimming along with running and dryland. This summer is important to me since I must keep swimming to be in shape for my first season as a plebe at Navy as well as running and such to get me ready for Plebe Summer (name for USNA's bootcamp). |
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February 2015
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