By Luke Bernstein, Swimming World Intern.
From Fiji to Piscataway, New Jersey, Destin Lasco is making news whenever he steps into the pool. A junior swimming for Salvation Army Kroc Aquatics, Lasco has already qualified for the U.S. National Junior Team, earning him a trip to the Junior Pan Pacific Championships last summer. And starting in the fall of 2020, he will swim for one of the premier NCAA programs in the country, Cal-Berkeley.
On Saturday night at the Speedo Winter Invitational, Lasco had a quick double, first swimming the 100 back and then the 400 free. After the backstroke, Destin took a brief moment to speak with Swimming World about the race he just finished, his summer experiences, and his exciting plans for the future.
Lasco swam a 57.11, a time he felt was good, but was quick to point that he was currently in the midst of a grueling training program with his club as well as a busy high school season for Mainland High School. However, he was ecstatic about the opportunity to swim long course in the month of January as it is a “great opportunity to see where they are at with training” and to evaluate areas of success and some places for improvement. Lasco also recognizes that he has to swim long course as much as possible as it is the only way to make the big meets and swim with the big guns.
Lasco was also eager to talk about his experience over the summer at Junior Pan Pacs. He described the trip as an “amazing experience to be around a group of people who had the same drive, same passion.” He struggled to put into words how much it meant to be with a group of talented swimmers all aiming to be the best versions of themselves and hopes to have the opportunity to swim a meet like that one in the near future.
However, the best part about Lasco’s experiences the past few months happened very recently, when he was able to commit to Cal. When asked about this decision, Destin’s smile could be seen from ear to ear as he described the magical swim program in Berkeley. He described the environment as, “world class, from the academics, to the coaches, Dave Durden and Chase Kreitler.”
The coaches spoke of being an athlete both physically and mentally, emphasizing that success in the classroom was paramount, which struck a chord with Lasco. He also mentions that during his visit, “he bonded really well with the team” and could not pass up the opportunity, “to train with Olympians such as Ryan Murphy, Josh Prenot, and Nathan Adrian was awesome” and he felt blessed to be a part of such an amazing group of people.
Lasco was just shy of completing a double first place evening with a strong second place finish in the 400 free. He finished with a time of 4.03.25, just behind Timothy Marski’s winning time of 4.03.06. Just a small setback, and Lasco will be back in the pool Sunday for the 200 back and 100 free, and he will be a top-two seed in both events.
Exciting future ahead for him!
Proud to this family! Great people!
Amazing results and dedication. He knows what is needed to achieve both physically and academically. Nice balance all around.