‘Just Keep Swimming’: UNCW senior makes swim team after years of trying

Ben Prucha had been a volunteer and club swimmer his previous years in Wilmington. Now, his dream of being a D1 athlete is reality

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – In a remarkably rare situation of opportunity meeting preparation, UNCW senior Ben Prucha is proving that the only way to drown your dreams is to never swim at all.

“It was definitely something I strived for pretty hard,” said the newest member of the reigning CAA champion UNCW swim team about being a Division One athlete.

Since arriving in Wilmington, he had been trying to join the program but was unsuccessful. But at the start of this semester, he had a conversation with Seahawk Head Coach Bobby Guntoro that culminated in his dream coming true.

“(Coach Guntoro) comes out of his office and he points at me and says ‘Ben, in my office!’ and I was like ‘Oh no!’ I thought I was in trouble…”

“I pulled him in my office and sit him down and said ‘This is a serious conversation that I’ve been admiring from afar what you’ve been doing. I think you can benefit the team with your work ethic, drive, and love for the sport’…”

Ben’s story of becoming a college athlete is reminiscent of Notre Dame’s ‘Rudy‘. Guntoro went as far to say he’s never seen a situation like Prucha’s before. So, how did it happen?

OPPROTUNITY:

Spots are very limited on the roster for a team as competitive as UNCW, and it’s even more rare that a spot opens up. You have to be able to contribute to the team immediately if you are on it, says Guntoro, who has full autonomy of the roster. Typically, the Seahawks have 25 to 26 men on the squad.   However, with graduation this year and next, it left a spot open mid-year.

“Going into the year we happened to have an extra spot,” says the fifth-year head coach. “We were carefully moving forward with the transfer portal and all that, but it (Ben) was kind of like the elephant in the room. All the staff knows who he is, he runs the system for our swim meets…”

“We didn’t have a roster spot for him out of high school. Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, senior year… we didn’t offer him a spot until October,” said Guntoro. But it wasn’t because Prucha didn’t try.

“I wasn’t super good in high school I was probably mid-tier,” Prucha said with a smile. “I had a couple of offers, nothing crazy. My other options were super far away and up north – I did not want to do the cold…”

But he broke his collarbone before choosing to attend Wilmington, relegating his Division One dream to a club level commitment.

“I didn’t try out but… Swimming is a lot of emails for recruiting, I did email Bobby (Guntoro) asking (for a spot). I don’t remember what they said, but it was a no… so I was like ‘Oh okay’,” Prucha says with a laughing smile. Even though he was told no, that’s not what he heard.

“I did the Masters program here, I did club swim, I just kept swimming,” said Prucha. I became friends with the whole team helping them out with running meets, doing the timing system, helping with their swim lessons… I kind of built a relationship with everyone before asking again.”

Ben had become content competing at the club level. However, he was a member of a club level national championship team for the Seahawks, on the relay sprint for three years for making it individually just last year. At Club Nationals last season, Prucha had a standout meet. He went new personal best times in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back earning top-5 finishes in the 50 and 100 free. He dropped to 20.57 in the 50 free finals for 4th and 45.51 in the 100 free to finish 3rd.

That reinvigorated his desire for a bigger stage, and Ben got to work…

PREPARATION:

While spending years working as a volunteer, swim instructor, and system operator for the UNCW swim team meets, Ben had ‘really good’ improvements his time – without the benefits of a D1 coach and training.

“My only goal after high school was to go under 21 (seconds) in the 50 (meter freestyle race) and I was like ‘I’ll call it after that’… and in my first year, I went under 21 and I was like ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool’ and it made me want to go faster,” said Prucha.  He credits Coach Guntoro and Coach Sarah Richards for helping his development by creating workout plans that he would do on his own.

“There was no roster spot when he was doing that,” said Guntoro of Prucha’s extra workouts. Guntoro says Prucha has shaved more than a full second off his 50-meter freestyle time since high school. “If you ask me, I couldn’t do anything by myself for two months — and he did it for three years… Life in college can be difficult. To me, that’s a lot. That’s something I admire.”

Guntoro found his autonomy and persistence more than admirable, eventually inviting Prucha to summer workouts with the team, but made clear it was not an official spot on the squad. “If he can do it on his own for three years, there’s more that he can bring to this team than just his specialty (spring freestyle swimming). That’s what I’m looking for.”

Coach began training Prucha’s body for championship level Division One swimming. While everyone was off from school, Guntoro and Prucha worked hard together individually on detail – and coach said Ben did it all with a smile. Coach shared that Prucha one day joked ‘That was awesome, but I feel like I’m going to die’.

WHAT’S NEXT:

Prucha is fully approved as a Division One student-athlete and will be competing in the Seahawks’ next meet next weekend at the University of Georgia, taking on the Bulldogs and other D1 teams.

“I throw down everything at him, he just smiles and says ‘Let’s do it!'”, says Coach Guntoro with a smile about Prucha. “I do think he can he one of our best 50 freestylers this year.  I hope this story can help young student athletes out there that if you believe in your ability, continue to do what you are doing, continue to work hard, and continue to believe in yourself – the opportunity will come.”

“If you can think it, you can do it,” says Prucha on his general tip to younger student athletes to never give up on their dreams. “There’s no limit to your success. If you’re at a wall right now, take a step back and take a break then step back in. You’ll surprise yourself.”