Back from traumatic brain injury, Windsor's Jake Eccleston again wins two 4A swimming titles

THORNTON — Jake Eccleston did it again.

Two Class 4A boys swimming championships, for a third straight year.

This one was different, though.

Because the Windsor senior swimmer himself was different, post-recovery from a traumatic brain injury in a freak golfing accident nearly a year ago.

It hasn't stopped him. In fact, he may have one-upped himself.

Eccleston made it a three-peat of 200-yard individual medley and 100 breaststroke state titles, winning both again and earning Colorado High School Coaches Association 4A Boys Swimmer of the Year honors Friday night at the Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center in Thornton.

Per usual, he dominated the 200 IM, winning by nearly half a lap. His time of 1 minute, 47.47 seconds was just 0.2 off his own 4A state title mark set last year.

Then he knocked off one of his main goals.

A new all-class state record time of 53.67 seconds in the 100 breaststroke, as Eccleston blew away the field and bested friend Joshua Corn's (Colorado Academy) previous record from a year ago.

"I wanted to take it back from (Corn)," Eccleston said, tired but ecstatic after the meet. "There's no bragging rights, though. It was just barely." He beat it by 0.6 to be exact.

He was also sporting the Swimmer of the Year plaque and embraced his father, Andy (a USA club official at the meet) in a special moment.

The whole scene was hardly believable less than 12 months ago.

Weeks after last spring's state titles, Eccleston accepted an invite to golf with some friends. Harmless fun, he thought.

"Of course," he said during a pre-state interview. "Who gets hurt golfing?"

It was just unfortunate timing. Eccleston happened to walk behind a friend's practice swing and the club delivered a violent blow behind his ear.

"Next thing I knew, I was on the ground and just remember the ambulance sirens," he said.

Eccleston spent two days in the hospital, lucky it wasn't worse. The fallout? Still near-catastrophic, especially for a swimmer.

Half an inch either way would have meant paralysis or even near-certain death, doctors told him.

"You could call it the perfect spot," said Windsor coach Trevor Timmons, able to make light of it a year later.

Eccleston still suffered a traumatic brain injury, severe concussion, vertigo and temporary Bell's palsy. His ability to balance was questionable. That's a problem for swimmers, who rely on spatial cues during any race.

Then there was the hearing loss.

"Soon after the accident, I went to do yardwork and put earbuds in but couldn’t hear anything in my right ear," Eccleston said. "We went to the doctor and I had become completely deaf there."

After his summer training finished, he got surgery and a cochlear implant, which allows him to hear like something approaching normal.

The issue has still necessitated a change to his start routine, a swimming ritual that always requires great timing.

"Watch him before a race," Timmons said. "He's looking at the official first and then straight down. He's using a visual light under the starting blocks to time his dive in instead of listening for the start sound."

The injury's timing in the big picture, while better for his high school career, was especially tough for the University of Louisville signee and elite national swimmer.

Eccleston still competed in the USA National Championships a month after the injury, but the lifelong swimmer was far from his old self, well-off from previously attainable Olympic cuts he'd been striving for.

"I actually started swimming again a week after my injury, which wasn’t suggested," he said with a sly laugh. "It was still just a huge hurdle to overcome (for nationals)."

The whole ordeal was a setback. It wasn't an ending, though.

Eccleston spent months taking care of the injury and then revamping his swimming chops, tirelessly training with his patented, relentless dedication to the sport.

"The person he was before laid the groundwork for his comeback," Timmons said. "In so many ways, Jake is still Jake. If anything, the (injury) just amplified those qualities."

"It’s not about getting back to where I was," Eccleston said. "I'm not the same person I was before. Now, it's about pushing forward."

He's done that this spring, reaching the same rare air he's always occupied in the pool.

Eccleston set new conference records in the 100 butterfly and 200 free, plus helped his Windsor 200 free relay team set a league record time while winning the school's first-ever conference championship.

The legacy he leaves at Windsor is massive. Especially because he could have opted out, as many elite senior swimmers with college scholarships in hands often do.

That's never been Eccleston, though. He's a two-year team captain, hosts team movie nights at his house and always checks in on his "Windsor boys," even if he's splitting time with club practices.

It paid off, as he helped the Wizards take runner-up in the team standings with a pair of third-place relay finishes that both set new school records.

That may have been Eccleston's favorite part. Even more than his own wins.

"I knew I'd never get another opportunity with these guys again," he said. "It's an amazing feeling. You just want to soak it all in."

Another box checked for one of the great Windsor athletes ever.

According to Timmons, Eccleston owns seven school records out of eight individual swims. Four individual league marks and part of two more conference relay records.

"I've had middle schoolers come up to me and say, 'That kid is no fair, no else can win.' Jake has set a standard and a bar for the swimmers coming up in (Northern Colorado)," said Timmons, who has coached Eccleston since middle school.

Add two more gold medals to the tally now, with a new state record for kicks.

"I’m never going to let what happened in the past stop me from pushing forward for my dreams," Eccleston said.

He left zero doubt about that, completing one of Colorado's great comeback stories to enhance his legendary career with a triumphant finale.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Jake Eccleston comes back from brain injury to win Colorado state titles