St. Michael’s Future Olympian? Keep Your Eye on John Shelstad

Sports fans the world over are gearing up for the approaching 2012 Summer Olympics, and swimming is one of the sports that will take center
stage. One St. Michael swimmer, 13-year-old John Shelstad, will be watching with close intensity as he sets his sights on his own future Olympic goals.

Shelstad, the oldest of his four siblings, began swimming at age ten. His younger siblings have all followed suit, and so far he has blazed quite a trail. The new 13 year old just aged out of the 11-12-age category, where he blasted through seven state swimming records as part of St. Michael’s
Sea Devils swim team and is also state champion in one other event. Though the family lives in Big Lake, they opted to join STMA’s team initially for the location but ended up being big fans of the Sea Devils’ program.

“The coaches are so great at developing the right programs for the right ages,” said John’s mom, JP. “They want kids at every level to be successful.”

JP tries her hand at coaching her own small swim team for a portion of each year, since the family lives in Germany for part of the year for her husband’s job. Though she or her husband weren’t swimmers themselves,
they have embraced the sport along with their children, citing its low injury
rates and the possibility for life-long participation.

“You rarely see 80 year olds playing football, but you can go to the pool and see 80 year olds swimming back and forth,” she said.

Shelstad said he trains about three hours per day during the week between pool and dry land workouts, and he has some big goals he’s working towards. Besides striving for success in his new 13-14-age category, Shelstad said he has his mind set on qualifying for the Olympic trials for the 2016 summer games, which will take place when he’s 17. He’s particularly fond of the shorter races and the IM races, which are medley races that involve all of the strokes. Shelstad will be keeping a close eye on these times during this year’s games, setting the bar for his own future aspirations.

The Sea Devils’ co-head coach, Michelle Mix, started coaching Shelstad 1.5 years ago, and she said there are some things that set him apart from the crowd. One of these things is that she considers him to be a true student of the sport.

“He really wanted to learn and be educated-he really wanted to absorb it all,” Mix said.

She also called Shelstad a great teammate, encouraging his team members and taking on a leadership role. But the best part about John, Mix said, is that while he is naturally talented, it’s really the drive and
dedication that sets him apart.

“He doesn’t get by on his natural talent,” she said. “He’s the whole package, if you will. And he likes to have fun while he’s doing it, which is really important too.”

Though he just turned 13, Mix said Shelstad is already ranked 9th in nation for the 13-14 year old 50 freestyle.

“I’d expect him to place top 8 in most of his races already as a new 13-year-old,” she said.

“He’s one to watch, that’s for sure,” Mix said in conclusion. “Keep your eye out for him in the future!”