Even though Ethan Johns ’25 is part of a school-record-breaking relay team, he will be remembered in the swimming and diving team annals for having a much bigger impact than any stopwatch could suggest.
Even before Ethan Johns ’25 could swim, he knew he wanted to be fast.
“All my siblings swam,” says Johns, the youngest of four children. “When I was 2, my parents said I wanted to be faster than my brother. I’ve always wanted to be like him and live up to what he’s done.”
Johns learned to swim when he was 3 years old and began swimming competitively at 6. He chased his older brother Elliot ’16 and his speed all the way through Wabash. While Elliot still holds the 200-meter freestyle record at the College, Ethan made his own mark on the record board as a member of two of the current fastest relay teams.
“It was a celebration of all the work we put in and everything we’d done throughout the season, all the hard sets, all the early mornings,” says Johns. “It was really rewarding to see that pay off in a huge way.”
But as great as it is to see his name beside a record, he has continued to ponder something his high school coach said frequently.
“He said, ‘You won’t remember the times you swam but the times you had,’” recalls Johns. “All the memories I’ve made through the past 15 years of swimming, especially the ones at Wabash, are going to stick with me.”
Wabash swimmers and divers for years to come will feel his impact on the pool deck as he worked to build moments the team would remember.
“He does the right thing every time,” says teammate Mason Gilliam ’28. “If you’re looking to know what to do, you look to him. He doesn’t even have to say it. He just has a commanding presence.”
Johns is known as a good friend too.
“He always cares about what’s going on and he knows what to say,” teammate Nicholas Plumb ’27 says. “My freshman year, I was struggling adapting to college training. He told me, ‘You’re here for a reason; you’re going to get better here.’
“I genuinely believe he made the team what it is today,” Plumb continues. “We are culture centered, and we care a lot about the quality of the person more than how fast they are.”
Johns admits the current culture is the result of intentional work.
“I’m proud of the guys in my class. We took on building the program up and finding small things we can do,” he says. “Seeing the culture grow is really rewarding.”
Growing into a more vocal leader also took intentional effort. He pushed himself to step into bigger, more active leadership roles through his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, and as a team captain. But it came with new challenges.
“Ethan was elected a team captain his sophomore year,” says Will Bernhardt, head swimming and diving coach. “It’s the first time in 25 years coaching I had a sophomore captain. It was good, but also overwhelming.
“In his mind, he couldn’t struggle because he was the captain—the guy that should have all of his stuff together,” continues Bernhardt. “Through that he learned it’s okay to struggle. Those times he didn’t know the answer helped him grow and become the leader he was his junior and senior years.”
Johns is grateful for the opportunity to lead in a variety of ways but realizes the challenges that come with greater responsibility.
“I was able to take on a lot of roles across campus. At times, it stretched me a little thin,” he says. “In my sophomore year, I was rush chair of my fraternity, captain on the swim team, and had a large course load. Managing all those responsibilities was very tough. Scarlet Honors Weekend was right before finals and also the DePauw dual meet. I was trying to delegate things in Lambda Chi to make sure all of the prospective students were taken care of while focusing on my academics and athletics.
“It was a nerve-racking day, and the meet was very close,” Johns says. “I personally didn’t have a great meet, but it reminded me that swimming is a team sport. A lot of my teammates stepped up and did way better than anyone would have thought they could, and that made the difference. Those challenges help you grow as a person and remind you that you can go through hard things.”
Serving as a captain for three years allowed him to grow into the type of leader he envisioned.
“I’ve been able to understand how to work through interpersonal relationships, to make sure everyone is in the best headspace and is taken care of as a person. Then the whole team can thrive,” Johns says. “Leading by example helped me become a captain. As a captain, I worked on using my voice to help motivate people. There are so many ways you can impact a team other than scoring points. You can be a great teammate by encouraging others, being there when they need it, and giving words of wisdom.”
Bernhardt appreciates the consistency Johns brings to the team.
“The thing that impresses me most about Ethan is his constant work ethic and his pursuit of being the best person he can be,” says Bernhardt. “Every day he comes in with a goal. He comes in ready to tackle whatever is on the docket for that day. He is committed to not only making himself better, but how he can make everyone else around him better.”
Johns has learned to persevere even through the off days and the losses.
“One lesson swimming has helped me understand is you can put in all the work and still come up short of your goal,” Johns says. “There have been seasons that I’ve trained as hard as I thought I could and come up short. But secondary to that is you have to keep going back to it. You can’t let that get to your head; you’ve got to keep putting in the work and focusing on your process. There’s no guarantee, but it’s worth going for it, rather than just giving up on a goal.”
One example was beating his brother’s 200-freestyle record. Johns had one last-chance meet after the NCAC conference meet. He missed it by .10 seconds. Not reaching the goal taught his teammates as much as setting records.
“It was silent when he touched the wall,” Plumb recalls. “I knew this was going to be the greatest season of his career, because he worked so hard last summer. Ethan was not going down without a fight. Even though he didn’t get there, the message was he was not giving up. It was his senior year, his last swim ever, and he still left it all in the pool. He gave me so much confidence just from who he is as a leader and as a swimmer.”
Above all, Johns likes to keep it light on the pool deck.
“He just likes to have fun,” Plumb says. “He knows having fun is how he is going to do the best.”
His secret is simple.
“I always smile before my races,” Johns says. “My mom is a dentist. She loves to see my smile. She says you swim faster with a smile. I’ve done all the preparation. I have done so many strokes, so many laps, so many races already. My body knows what to do, so I just get excited. My parents make sure they are at my meets. With Mom in the stands, I have some extra incentive to smile before I race. That helps me calm down and kick any nerves I have.”
As he leaves Wabash and heads to Indiana University School of Medicine, he takes with him the times he shared with teammates in and out of the water. He hopes the unofficial record book reflects his impact on the team for years to come.
“This has been the most important part of my Wabash career,” Johns says. “I hope it remains the most important part of all their Wabash careers—put in effort and take pride in that, make it a home for you and many others for years to come. I just want them to keep pushing the boundary on what Wabash swimming and diving can do in the pool and in the community.”