Jake Eccleston: The Superstar Swimmer Authoring a Comeback
Jake Eccleston holds the CHSAA record for the 100 breaststroke, is a four-time state champion – winning twice in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke – and yet still, 2024 has the potential to be his greatest triumph yet.
In late May, soon after winning his 2023 state title and setting his latest Colorado high school record, Eccleston’s dream almost ended.
“I went golfing with a couple of buddies of mine and as one of them was taking a practice swing, I walked by without paying attention and I was struck in the back of my head, behind my ear with a driver club,” Eccleston said. “Thankfully, the impact was in the perfect spot on my head, because if it was half an inch in either direction, I would’ve either been disabled for the rest of my life, or dead.”
Even though Eccleston was fortunate the fallout wasn’t worse, the injury was still tremendously damaging. The blow split his skull and left him with temporary Bell’s palsy, a severe concussion, a mild traumatic brain injury, vertigo, and permanent deafness in his right ear.
“I spent two days and one night in the hospital, where they sewed up my gash,” the Windsor senior recalled. “Every day I spent laying in bed at home, I spent thinking about how this would affect my swimming and how I had nationals in a month.”
Eccleston amazingly returned to the pool a mere two weeks after the traumatic injury. But, he still had to relearn how to balance and find his bearings in water without the use of one of his ears, which we, as a species, rely heavily on to balance ourselves.
Although his performance at nationals didn’t quite measure up to his expectations, Eccleston was soon back to elite form.
At the 2023 Speedo Winter Juniors West meet, the soon-to-be Louisville Cardinal defended his crown in the 200 breaststroke and secured another gold in the 100 breaststroke, proving that the injury wasn’t going to slow him down.
“In 2022, I won the 200 breaststroke, and it was such an amazing feeling, but coming back in 2023, after my injury, and defending my title was all that was on my mind,” Eccleston said. “To my surprise on the second day of the meet, I won the 100 breast and it gave me the confidence I needed to come back the next day and bring home another gold medal in the 200 breast.
“The meets as a whole were both wonderful experiences and getting to see my friends that I have made on other teams all across the country, and make new ones, was a priceless experience.”
Reaching the summit again, after his injury, was a massive accomplishment for Eccleston.
“During the 2023 winter juniors, after I had won the 100 breast, a coach from another team, who I had met shortly after my injury and knew the hardships I went through, came up to me and gave me a hug and told me I deserved that win.”
His recovery wasn’t only tremendous for himself, but for his teams as well, considering his value to the Wizards’ culture.
“As he’s gotten older and matured and transformed into an elite athlete, his core persona has remained unchanged,” Windsor’s boys swimming head coach, Trevor Timmons, explained. “You might think that a kid like Jake would get cocky or full of themselves, but Jake is anything but that. He is a great student. He is kind and down to earth. He really takes time to get to know everyone on the team and he has been elected team captain two years in a row. So, it shows that he’s really grounded, a great sport and all-around a good kid. Then, when you put that into the pool, he’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes. I don’t know that Windsor High is ever going to have a swimmer like him again, so he’s been really special and fun to work with.”
Plus, the more you learn about Eccleston, the easier it is to understand how he’s been a back-to-back captain and so beloved by his teammates.
“He has hosted offseason movie parties at his house, for the team and stuff like that, so it starts to build the culture early and get all the kids together,” Coach Timmons elaborated. “You see that really trickle through when we hit the season. There, when you have a swimmer like that, that can really rally the rest of the team, it helps pump that culture up. So when he’s there, it’s a really positive vibe. He also helps push everyone – ‘Hey, come on, guys. We got to step up. We got to do this.’”
Eccleston has also pushed himself back into the state championship picture once again – already posting qualifying times in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM.
Nearly a year removed from the horrific accident that almost changed everything, Eccleston is looking to reach new, even higher peaks.
“My goal for this upcoming season is to break the 200 IM and 100 breast all-state records and try to get the last two school records at Windsor High School and ‘clear the board.’”
