UofL swimmer Zach Harting excels in and out of the pool

UofL swimmer Zach Harting surprised the crowd at the Phillips 66 Nationals meet in Irvine, California, in July, when he placed second in the 200 butterfly. The finish secured him a spot on the U.S. team at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in August, where Harting finished third. 

The senior engineering major chose UofL because of its successful swim and engineering programs. 

"One day you're racing Olympians. The next day you're taking a systems dynamics test," Harting said. He especially likes his fluids classes and admits he calculates water force and pressure during swim practice. 

"Being surrounded by the people I'm surrounded with academically and people in the pool who push me to do better and having the support from the rest of the city in what I'm trying to accomplish really means a lot," Harting said. "If I go into an international meet, I'm thinking about the people that are behind me ... It's really comforting knowing that I have people who are supporting me."

Check out more of Harting's story below. Check out Harting and his fellow Cards as the swim season gets underway: