Jed Galutira Proves It’s Never Too Late: College Swimming at 34

Photo Courtesy: Melissa Wolf

By Melissa Wolf, Swimming World College Intern.

Placing first in a college dual meet is a nice accomplishment unless you are 34-year-old Jed Galutira – then, it is proof that you are on your way to swimming faster than the younger you. With a winning time of 57.70 in the 100 back, he is less than two seconds off his lifetime best time. He also placed second in the 50 free with a time of 22.77, which is one and a half seconds away from the goal he set for himself before the season.

Photo Courtesy: Melissa Wolf

The grey hair in Galutira’s beard speaks to his wisdom and age as possibly the oldest NCAA DIII swimmer currently in the league. Galutira is a full-time student finishing his degree in biology at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. After a 12-year break from studying and a 15-year gap in swimming, his return to both has been an example to many others that nothing is impossible if you have support and love from the people who believe in you.

His swim career started at the Seaside Aquatic Club with coach Ken Fittro at age seven. Throughout his swimming journey, Galutira learned that hard work, dedication, and support from others is needed to succeed in swimming and in life. His former club coach still stands behind him, believes in him and encouraged him to finish what he started. Tears can be seen welling up in Galutira’s eyes when talking about his coach, who is still one of his biggest cheerleaders and mentors. He talks about how Fittro was like a second father and how the small team became family, supporting each other both in and out of the pool.

Galutira and his current college coach Franco Pacheco were two of the six founding members of the Seaside Dolphin’s in California under coach Fittro, who is still coaching the club and changing lives more than 25 years later.

Photo Courtesy: Jed Galutira

Not many coaches are recruiting 34-year-olds, but since they’ve known each other from a young age, Pacheco knew that Galutira would be able to do more than score points at meets. Galutira’s wisdom and character prove to be invaluable resources on the team he is creating. The pair is once again making history and building a team from the ground up together, but this time as head coach and athlete instead of seven-year-old swimmers. Pacheco is one of Galutira’s biggest fans and strongest supports, standing with him in solidarity and belief that he can achieve his goals in the pool and classroom.

Galutira’s role on his team is to lead by example in the pool, classroom and in life. He is a captain, and the swimmers around him look to him for guidance. He can point his teammates in the right direction and be a sounding board for them when they have struggles. They know his story and respect him for humbling himself enough to come back to school and swimming; they are proud to be on his team. Returning to college swimming is his redemption, his way to give back out of gratitude for his second chance, and his way to prove to himself that he can fulfill the desires of his heart.

Photo Courtesy: Melissa Wolf

Being older than the average college swimmer, he takes his training and recovery very seriously. He has no time to waste and a body that does not bounce back quickly after hard workouts like it used to. This time around, Galutira is more open to learning new techniques and gives more weight to his nutrition and what he does outside the pool. This is his second chance, and none of it is taken for granted. The resources he has around him don’t go unnoticed, and he has built a web of support to help hold him up and cheer him on to finishing his degree and the sport he loves.

Photo Courtesy: Melissa Wolf

“Winning my first race was okay, but my main goal is best times. I will not be satisfied until I beat the younger me,” says Galutira as he reflects on the reasons he came back to the sport he loves. Swimming is his passion. Returning to college to finish his degree brought him back to swimming, and now swimming is bringing back opportunities to challenge himself in and out of the pool. With a GPA of greater than 3.0, a full-time job and a fiance, he is finding that being older has its benefits – especially with his focus being on his goals more than the other distractions that college can bring.

Starting again was not a hard decision. Galutira has been given a rare opportunity, and he honors his team, his family, his former coach and himself with his hard work.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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