By CJ Peterson — Staff Writer
Alex Guerra has a goal of solving one of the medical industry’s greatest problems.
He has dedicated his studies to bio-printing — a process that could provide a remedy for over 100,000 Americans who are currently seeking a lifesaving organ transplant.
“Think of it like 3D printing,” Guerra said. “But instead of with plastic, you’re printing with cells. You would be able to print full organs.”
Despite the 16-unit course load that comes with the major, the sophomore biomedical engineering student carves out nearly two hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to practice with the San Jose State men’s swim club.
Guerra is just one of 13 swimmers that have found a way to allow their dreams and aspirations to coexist with quality time in the water training with the swim club. For many, working on fitness and building team camaraderie is well worth the time commitment.
“The vibe around the team is just ‘come and hang out with us and we’re going to work to get better’,” said Guerra, the club’s marketing officer. “We’re going to get stronger together and that’s our motivation.”
At San Jose State, 19 NCAA sports are offered to students, including 11 women’s programs and eight men’s. While women’s swimming and diving is sanctioned by the NCAA, there is currently no official men’s program.
According to Randy Lin, a club member and coach for two years, the club was formed after SJSU students expressed the desire to continue their swim careers after high school or to simply pick up a new hobby.
“The team has been around since 2011,” Lin said. “We used to use master coaches from Santa Clara Swim Club… mainly they were just there to give us a work out and sit down.”
Studying aviation at SJSU, Lin plans to become a pilot after graduation. His immediate focus over the last two years though, has been to build a close-knit group of swimmers.
Taking over as coach in 2017, Lin has succeeded in that goal by recruiting and retaining over a dozen swimmers. The 12-man team played a large role in Guerra’s decision to come to SJSU last fall.
As a California Interscholastic Federation State Swimming and Dive qualifier for Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, Calif., Guerra wanted to continue his swimming career at the next level while still being able to balance the demanding nature of his major.
“I looked into [joining an NCAA program] pretty seriously,” Guerra said. “I wanted to be a biomedical engineering specifically and I was thinking how it would be quite a challenge to do NCAA swimming and my major.
“I was thinking about if the school had a competitive club team and that’s where I found San Jose State.”
Competing against other club teams like Santa Clara University, UCLA, UC Davis and Stanford, SJSU has done a nice job of turning its extracurricular activities into a competitive experience that has built a sense of team camaraderie.
“We all like to see how hard we can push ourselves,” Lin said. “But we all support each other out there.”
The swim club also travels which has helped galvanize the unit, according to Guerra. Perhaps the largest instance of this was in 2017 when the team traveled to Santa Cruz for a fundraising event.
“We were all able to cram into a van at 4 in the morning and no one was complaining,” Guerra said. “We spent the entire morning giving out water at a marathon. The fact that we were all there as a team and we were having a good time being together was the moment I realized I was really happy about where we are as a team.”
With the tangible sense of unity within the group, the task of showing up at 7 p.m., three times a week isn’t viewed as that. Instead, it’s a chance to work with a group of like-minded individuals with a common goal of improvement.
“The biggest thing is being able to work with a team,” Guerra said. “When I was in high school swimming, I got to know everyone on the team. It was like a family that I grew up with.
“I’m trying to apply that here at San Jose State… I want everyone to be comfortable with each other and talk to each other. I feel like the family aspect is something that can be more important than swimming itself.”
For those like Lin and Guerra, the swim club has added an invaluable aspect to their life, which they would be hard pressed to replicate anywhere else.
Despite the time commitment amid a life full of distractions and obligations, members of the swim club are happy to share their passion with one and other. It’s an activity all are willing to make room for in their schedules.
“It’s probably one of the most important things I can think of right now,” Guerra said. “Just being able to have people show up to something that you’ve arranged and they want to keep coming back is a huge feeling of success and something that I cherish.”
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