Freshman Luke Ensor gasped for air after the first high school race of his career. Ensor had just swum eight long, exhausting laps to win second place in his first long distance race and struggled to regain his breath.

In the fall Ensor didn’t plan to swim this season for JC until his mother convinced him. Fortunately for the team, he joined and is now one of the best swimmers on it, according to varsity head coach Larry Dukes.

According to Dukes, Ensor has great potential. His motivation comes from winning.

“Swimming in high school is different. It’s a lot more nerve-racking, and I sometimes am afraid, but once the race starts the jitters go away,” Ensor said.

At around seven years old, Ensor started swimming and training. He came in first place in Harford County for freestyle during the 2013-2014 school year. Although Ensor is a talented swimmer, he does not consider it his main sport and doesn’t wish to swim in college. He prefers lacrosse, in which he hopes to compete at the collegiate level.

“At some point in time he’ll have to make a decision between lacrosse and swimming. I’m just hoping it will be after high school,” Dukes said.

Throughout his childhood years of being forced to swim, Ensor has come to enjoy the sport, and especially at JC. According to Ensor, it’s taught him how to be responsible and improved his conditioning for lacrosse.

“[Swimming] is such good conditioning for other sports, and I think that’s what convinced him [to join the team],” varsity swimmer junior Faith Ensor, his oldest sister, said. Ensor views his sister Faith as his inspiration in swimming.

Ensor continues to improve and receives great praise from family, coaches, and all of his teammates, according to other members of the team.

“I love being on JC’s swim team, it gives me relaxation. Being with my teammates is great. They’ve been awesome,” Ensor said. “[Swimming has] definitely been worth [it] this season.”

Kishan Patel is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.