Puget Sound student-athlete Jaden Francis ’25 is diversifying the sport and striving for Olympic gold.
When Jaden Francis ’25 stepped up to the edge of the pool for his first relay as a member of the University of Puget Sound men’s swim team, it was a moment he’d been building up to for almost two years. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled his high school swim meets, Francis had to contend with the closure of the public pools back home on the island of Guam due to funding and maintenance issues.
“Our main competition pool closed before COVID even hit,” Francis recalls. “So, our coach was just like, ‘I guess we're training in the ocean.’”