Making one Olympics is an incredible accomplishment. Making two? That’s even harder than making the first.

“It’s an incredible feeling because I mean the first time was a dream come true and an unbelievable experience and I felt like I wanted to accomplish more and perform better than I did in London,” Conor Dwyer said. “I’m ecstatic that all the dedication and hard work paid off and I could make my second Olympics.”

Later this month, trying to follow up his London performance where he won a gold medal, Dwyer will represent the United States for the second Olympics in a row as he and his teammates take on the world in Rio de Janeiro.

For many Olympic swimmers, the thought of making the Olympics starts at a young age.

That wasn’t the case for Dwyer.

Despite qualifying for the state meet in four events his senior year at Loyola, Dwyer wasn’t even sure where he’d swim, if at all, in college. He started his college career at the University of Iowa, where he swam for two seasons, 2007-2009. But it was training with Florida coach Gregg Troy, then the U.S. National Team coach, that changed his swimming career, and life, around.

“While some people started in the sport early, and I didn’t even know if I was going to swim in college. I had a little bit of a different path than others.”

“I would probably be retired from the sport of swimming if it weren’t for Gregg Troy giving me an opportunity to swim at a top-5 program. He was the only one who had faith in me making that Olympic team and I had complete faith in him. It took a lot of hard work from running the stairs at the Swamp, 93 rows, to swimming 12 miles a day but anything he told me to do I had faith in him.”

“He was an amazing mentor and coach in my life.”

Dwyer transferred to Florida and saw his career take off. His first year at Florida, 2009-2010, he won the NCAA Division I National Men’s Swimmer of the Year award, as well as the SEC Male Swimmer of the Year award. In that season’s NCAA Championships he earned seven All-American honors, including two individual titles in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle. Five more All-American honors, another SEC Male Swimmer of the Year award, a title in the 800-yard freestyle relay and a spot on the U.S. National team awaited him after his senior season.

 

Despite his “late” rise to stardom, Dwyer got an early start in the pool, as he would join his parents in the pool, at the young age of two. His mom, Jeanne, was a former swimmer at Florida State and brought him along to the pool as she and her husband exercised by swimming.

After qualifying for the 2012 Olympics by finishing second in the 400 meter freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle, which qualified him for the 800 meter freestyle relay, Dwyer became the unknown swimmer on a star-studded relay team that featured gold medalists Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Ricky Berens.

“Going into 2012, I was more of an underdog, I was the young gun and just coming out of Florida, but this time around I was definitely a presence on the team and it was two different styles but i was both equally nervous for both,” Dwyer said. “I did feel the pressure though.”

Training, watching and even living with some of the greatest swimmers in the history of the sport has helped Dwyer as he prepares for his second trip to the Olympics.

“It’s a full time job where you’re training twice a day and as the sport has gotten faster we’ve learned how important training is,”  Dwyer said. “There are just as many aspects out of the pool as there are in the four hours of in the pool training.

“I’ve been lucky enough to see how guys like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte handle themselves at practice and also out of the water as far as recovery and taking care of their bodies. I’ve just learned a lot from Michael about how powerful the mind is and he’s always there to give little tips and anything he gives me I take to heart because he is the greatest in our sport.”

In Rio, Dwyer will compete in the 200 and 400 meter freestyle races, as well as the 800 meter relay, the team with which he won the gold medal in London. While he feels he’s improved since 2012, Dwyer knows there are still areas in which he can improve.

“i’m going best times at age 27 and these past two years I’ve put in some of the most work I’ve ever put in, around 80-90 days in high altitude at the Olympic training center and that helped me dramatically.”

With him getting some of his best times this year, it’s easy to see why Dwyer will be one of the favorites in his events. And all of Chicago will be watching as he chasing his dream.