The following is the final piece of a three-part article series sharing about the success of the Mikesell siblings. Claire, Paige, and Luke have all excelled in swimming, school, and life. This series will document each Mikesell’s rise through swimming, the people who have inspired and aided their success, and the milestones and hurdles they accomplished and faced along the way.
INDIANA, Pa. – Luke Mikesell may have become a two-time PIAA state champion as a swimmer, however, many people may have forgotten that it took the youngest of the MIkesells a few years to find what events suited him best. Since he found distance swimming, his career has exploded.
Luke was just three years old when he hit the pool to begin his journey through swimming. Nearly two full decades later, and some of his last races may not be too far away. Even with a fifth year of eligibility, Mikesell understands that each practice and time he hits a lane to compete is precious. It’s been a career filled with many ups and downs and even moments where he questioned why the heck he keeps enduring the pain and sacrifice it requires to be successful in this sport.
“One of the lowest points was in middle school, where I just couldn’t seem to find my event,” he explained. “Claire was a great breaststroker and Paige had butterfly. I couldn’t find my event. One day, I gave the 500 freestyle a shot in a YMCA meet and I honestly wasn’t even really excited about it. I did pretty well for my first time. I tried it again in the next meet and more time came off pretty easily. The third time I tried it was in the YMCA district meet. I was 13, and I had a time below five minutes. That was a pretty big wow moment. That feeling really helped get me motivated to continue swimming, and I felt like that was my race now.”
The extra lifting sessions, nearly year-round workouts, proper nutrition, and personal life sacrifice it requires to be a great swimmer is truly not worth it to everyone. But even in the toughest and most painful moments, he could never walk away. It would have been easy to do as a middle schooler when he wanted to play other sports with his friends and had not yet found the 500 freestyle as an event that felt natural to him. It also would have been easy to call it quits after a double jaw surgery kept him out of the water for several months between his sophomore and junior seasons. Through it all, he kept pushing on.
Sure, his teammates were counting on him. It’s even more than that. He’s counting on himself. So is his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Mikesell believes one thing he was blessed to do is be a great swimmer along with being a role model through his actions in the sport. He has certainly done that over the years. Not just because of his record-setting accolades, but because of the way he’s responded in critical moments. “The end of middle school is when I really feel like I fell in love with swimming the most. I took it seriously and recognized the blessings I had in my life because of the sport. There were moments when I was grinding and wondered if I could keep going and if it was worth it. But that’s all part of pushing through to do something you love.”
When Mikesell was looking to add some more individual state titles in his senior year of high school, the meet was canceled due to covid-19 right in front of his eyes. While there was pure devastation, he went out in his first college season and had one of the best individual seasons in the history of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) men’s swimming history. That built up frustration paired with a unique few months going into his first college season likely led to such a hot start as a freshman. As Luke notes, he’s a “revenge swimmer”. Though he understood the implications and why the meet needed to be canceled, the best athletes are great at holding onto things and letting it drive them towards their ultimate goals. That’s exactly what he did in the 2020-21 season.
But why IUP, some may have always wondered. Mikesell was one of the top swimming recruits in the nation and was the number nine recruit in all of Pennsylvania for the high school class of 2020. For those that know Luke, they probably aren’t surprised he chose IUP. As a teenager, it is difficult to make such big choices about where to study, play sports, or if they even are ready for college in the first place. For Luke, he stayed true to himself through the recruiting process and picked IUP because it would allow him to stay close to home, become teammates with both sisters for the first time in his life, work alongside coaches he knew and was comfortable learning from, and the school has a highly regarded criminology degree. While other schools offered some promising opportunities, there was nothing as well rounded as IUP swimming. Looking back, it’s easy to know he made the right decision and his impressive brag sheet is only one indicator.
His freshman season resulted in accolades such as becoming the number one men’s swimmer in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), being named PSAC Freshman of the Year, becoming a three-time PSAC individual champion, becoming a four-time All-PSAC performer, being ranked the number 20 overall swimmer in all of NCAA Division II men’s swimming, being named an IUP athlete of the week three times, being named IUP Men’s Athlete of the Year, becoming an All-American in the 500 yard freestyle and finishing fourth in the country, becoming a CSAA Scholar All-American, and setting program records in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle events. By becoming an All-American, he made history by helping the Mikesells become the first trio of siblings to become All-American swimmers for the Crimson Hawks.
It’s certainly a great start in college for a career that had already claimed two individual state titles while swimming for the Clearfield Bison, too. His first state crown came in 2018 as just a sophomore in the 500 freestyle. He set a state record with a 4:28.28. His second came in the 200 freestyle in his junior season, in which he set another PIAA state record with a 1:38.31 and knocked off the defending state champion in the process. These state titles remain as top memories from swimming, but they certainly produced some of the most surprising encounters in his life as well.
“My Dad was there when I won the first state title in 2018 and humbled me and calmed me down. He told me to not let this accomplishment make my head too big and define the rest of my career. This was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. The other side of winning a state title was having so many people suddenly know my name and come up to me to congratulate me. It was a pretty awesome but weird feeling to have that part of it happen. I remember finally getting back to the locker room after things settled and just sitting there in silence and thanking God for making this possible. I remain grateful for what he allowed me to do in winning those races.”
Though there have been some highs, there have certainly been some low points along the way as well. After winning the 500 freestyle state championship in 2018, Mikesell finished as state runner-up in the 2019 event. This event drove him for an entire calendar year to claim a third state title. It was the initial plan for the revenge tour referenced earlier, but the state meet was unfortunately canceled and his high school career concluded with two state gold medals.
This low point was also met with another difficult one in the 2022 summer when he had a double jaw surgery. Unfortunately, more than a decade of braces did not do the entire trick to help him how he needed. So, double jaw surgery it was. Along the way, he lost around 25 pounds and was out of the water for around three to four months. However, there should be no more problems going forward and Mikesell has two more years of eligibility left to continue his already historic career. Over his sophomore and junior seasons, the current Crimson Hawk senior added five more All-PSAC distinctions, helped 400 and 800 freestyle relay teams set program records, and also became a 2023 CSC Academic All-District.
So far in the 2023-24 season, Mikesell is feeling the best he has felt in some time. He had a much better offseason to get ready for his fourth college season than the one prior. He has also taken the leap to grad school as a part of an early enrollee program and started his first master’s class this term; something that’s been challenging and empowering as he gets closer to taking on the working world instead of the world of college athletics. In five years of school, he will leave IUP with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminology. He plans to pursue a career with the Pennsylvania State Police or as a Pennsylvania Parole Officer.
Though nobody can endure the hard work except the athletes themselves, there has been a circle of people who have helped Luke Mikesell make it to the mountaintop and rise when he was stuck in the deep valleys. His sisters’ Claire and Paige’ have always been his biggest role models, and those he turns to first when he’s faced any of his biggest struggles in swimming. His high school and college teammates have also become more like family to him over their years’ training and competing together. Their constant support and friendship are attributes he will cherish no matter when swimming ends for him. Finally, there are his parents Jon and Sue, who always held him accountable and were the ones who always helped him keep his faith first no matter what the results were in the pool.
“All these people and my faith have made this all possible. The support and my belief system have helped me in every step of my career and through every process I’ve gone through. I would not be the athlete or person I am today without these people and my faith. I’m glad that people around me never let me settle for anything less than my best.”
The 2023-24 season will surely be a fun one. Not only is Mikesell gunning for a season similar to the 2020-21 campaign in his freshman year, but he’s also hopeful to head to the 2024 Summer Olympic trials in the coming months to showcase the years of hard work he’s put into swimming. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. There are many milestones and goals that come between now and the later part of the spring of 2024. No matter what the rest of Luke Mikesell’s career in swimming has in store, the accomplishments, memories, and life lessons will be cherished for the rest of his life. His swimming career is important, but his faith, family, friends, and future career in public safety continue to be the driving forces for a life he is proud to live and a swimming journey he’s thankful to continue enduring.
