In his final high school swim season with the Brookfield Barracudas, Michael Linnihan (‘20) claimed two state champion titles in both the 100 and 200 yard freestyle at the Division 1 WIAA State Championships. Despite the pressure of being expected to win, he says, “Up on the blocks… all those expectations are gone.” When asked about his three years with the ‘cudas, he claimed that he wouldn’t trade his experiences with the team for anything.

Linnihan began his swimming career after his mother tried to find an outlet for her children’s excess of energy. Him and his siblings happened to gravitate towards swimming, and they all ended up joining the Elmbrook Swim Club (EBSC). “I just caught a bug that made me addicted to swimming.”
Linnihan’s top events are the 50 and 100 meter freestyle. His goal in the 100 meter free is to become a member of the U.S. junior national team, and eventually become the 18-and-under world champion. For the 50 free, Linnihan is hoping to qualify for the Olympic trials at the NCSA junior national meet this upcoming March. Linnihan ultimately hopes to become a world champion at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships.

Linnihan attributes a large portion of his success to the support from his family. He says his family is incredibly encouraging of his goals and decisions, especially his parents. “My parents are a huge part of my success and I can never thank them enough.”

To prepare for the upcoming Olympic trials in 2020, Linnihan will be graduating early from Brookfield Central. He will be walking with the class of 2019 at graduation on June 9, 2019. He intends to prepare for the trials by training with Elmbrook Swim Club under coaches Brent Boock and Dwight Sanvold. Along with continuing his existing training schedule, Linnihan will begin cross training and optimizing post-workout recovery to aid in his preparation. He expects that these methods will allow him to drop a significant amount of time in his events and allow him to acheive his goals.