Voice: November 2018

When Greg Roberts tried out for his high school swim team he could barely make it across the pool. Today, not only does he coach the sport, he just became the 22nd person to swim Lake Erie.

Roberts, 31, a math teacher and assistant swimming coach at Erie High School, conquered the Lake Erie Open Water Swimming Association’s 24-mile course from Lake Point, Ontario, to Freeport Beach in Pennsylvania last July in 14 hours and 50 minutes.

Aside from it being a longtime personal goal, Roberts swam to raise money for Erie High School athletics. Donations are still being accepted at his GoFundMe link at www.erieswimming.com.

A self-described “unmotivated, lazy, and below-average student,’’ Roberts was handing in a paper one day in a freshman history class at nearby Fairview High School when the teacher and swim coach, J.R. Jensen, approached him about trying out for swimming.

Although he couldn’t swim the length of the pool when he started, he credits Jensen’s encouragement and support with rapid improvement and fostering a love of the sport.

Swimming also provided him with responsibility and self-discipline that transferred into the classroom. He became so good at swimming and his studies that he went on to swim at the collegiate level at Edinboro University.

And Roberts credits swimming and Jensen for his finding his way into teaching after completing four years of college with the idea of “a good-paying desk job.’’

While studying for a professional exam after graduating, he got a call from Jensen asking if he’d be interested in helping to coach a recreational league swim team.

“I immediately fell in love with coaching,’’ Robert said. “It was exciting to watch kids learn.’’

He also started coaching in a program for kids with special needs, and the thrill of working with and teaching kids inspired him to go to grad school to pursue a master’s in education and his teaching certification.

“Through swimming, I discovered that I love working with kids,’’ Roberts said. “I love seeing the ‘ah-ha’ moment when it all comes together. While what I love about swimming and coaching doesn’t translate 100 percent over to teaching, the underlying values do.’’

His students and members of the swim team were among the entourage of family and friends who greeted him when he emerged onto the banks of Freeport Beach following his grueling swim from the Canadian side of Lake Erie.

Roberts, who spent 11 months training, had to use about $3,000 of his own money – for registration and insurance fees, for the association’s boat to monitor and record his swim, and for four kayak teams to support him along the way.

The support team provided him fluids and the occasional banana, but he was not allowed to touch the boat and had to tread water during these times.

“The swim was exhausting to say the least, but it was definitely more of a mental challenge,’’ Roberts said. “About eight miles in I had a bit of a mental breakdown, and I was crying into my goggles. But the team kept encouraging me and I pushed through.

“I really wanted to do it to support athletics because it was athletics that changed my life.’’