Senior Robert Brotherton grew up nearby in Canby, Oregon, where he still lives today. 

Brotherton got his start with sports in third grade when his parents made him join the CYO swim team, and he has been swimming ever since. 

“I just took a shine to it right away,” he said. “ I didn’t expect that I would at first, but once I started doing it, I figured out I really liked it.”

Brotherton skipped his eighth grade year to enroll at La Salle a year early, but he was still able to swim on his CYO team his freshman year due to his age.

In his last CYO All Star swim race, he competed in the 50-yard butterfly and won his first swim competition.

He then joined La Salle’s swim team, where he’s been competing ever since. Brotherton enjoys how the team keeps him busy as well as the fellowship that comes along with being on a team.

On the team, Brotherton looks up to seniors Nikola Jelusic and Aidan McCarthy. This is because “first of all, they’re wicked fast which is awesome,” he said. “Also, they’re great about showing up and committing to getting the job done.”

For his final season of high school swim, Brotherton hopes to get his fastest times yet.

“Since freshman year, I haven’t been able to break six minutes in the 500 freestyle,” he said. “I really want to try to do that.” He is ready to put in the effort to achieve that, as he acknowledges that “it’s gonna take some work.”

Due to his work schedule and academic load, Brotherton can only attend practices twice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, amounting to a total of four practices per week.

When he’s not swimming at La Salle, Brotherton is working at the Canby Swim Center as a lifeguard, while balancing his school work on top of that. 

As Brotherton looks forward to graduation, he sees swimming as something he will keep in his life for his leisure and health benefits.

“[Swimming] totally keeps me in shape and gives me an excuse to tell everybody to leave me alone for an hour,” Brotherton said. 

For those who are even slightly interested in swimming and are looking for a good way to stay healthy while making friends along the way, Brotherton highly recommends joining your local swim team.