Students

Logger Swimmer Makes Waves

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.’”

Training in the rough surf of the Piti Channel, in addition to intense land workouts, helped Francis learn to perform in any environment and strengthened his resolve to swim at the collegiate level. When he discovered Puget Sound, he knew he’d found the perfect school, one where he could balance his athletic dreams with solid academics.

“All this adversity over the last few years has made me tougher, and it has made me appreciate being at Puget Sound. Here, I have great facilities, great coaches, and great trainers,” Francis says. “Being a D-III school, we also have great professors, and it was important for me to have the best of both worlds. I know my athletic career is not going to last forever, so I wanted to make sure I'm as successful in the classroom as I am in the pool.”

The son of a U.S. Air Force officer, Francis has lived all over the world, but the one constant in his life has been his love of the water. From a young age, he was always in the pool. Francis’ dad is an avid swimmer and his mom, who never learned to swim, wanted to make sure her son had water-safety skills.

Jaden Francis ’25

“I’m not trying to be the next Michael Phelps. I’m just trying to be the best me that I can be.”

Francis was a recreational swimmer for most of his childhood and didn’t dip his toe into competitive swimming until middle school. Despite the late start, he showed a natural talent for the sport. His swim team experience was cut short just as it was getting started, when Guam’s pools were forced to close and COVID-19 prevented his team from traveling to meets. After two years of hard work and patience, he’s excited to make an impact as a member of the Puget Sound team.

“I’m grateful to be able to compete. I've been training for about two years straight just to have the opportunity to race again,” Francis says. “My first meet as a Logger was incredible. I'm not trying to be the next Michael Phelps. I'm just trying to be the best me that I can be.”

Jaden Francis ’25 sits in the stands beside Wallace Pool in the Athletics and Aquatics Center

Francis was a recreational swimmer for most of his childhood and didn’t dip his toe into competitive swimming until middle school.

Francis is a first-year student at Puget Sound and is considering a major in exercise science. He hopes to work in sports medicine after wrapping up his swimming career. In the meantime, his sights are set on an ambitious goal: swimming for Guam at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. He’s also hopeful that he can raise the profile of Black athletes in competitive swimming.

“The percentage of Black student-athletes in the sport of swimming isn’t very high, so, if one day I can be an inspiration to kids like me, that would be the best thing ever.”