OhioTennisZone.com Interview
FRIDAY, MAY
Recognizing Findlay's Drew Swisher
The fourth OTZ interview of the season is with Northwest Ohio's and Findlay's Drew Swisher. In the "It's a Small World" [link] department, Swisher's home would almost be within view of my grandparent's home on the edge of Findlay (if my grandparent's home was still standing).
As with the other seniors, Swisher's tennis goals are transforming into other goals as he moves onto college this fall. Swisher will be attending Ohio State and he plans to major in a health or medical field. While he intends to be at the OSU Main Campus (in Columbus), he may temporarily switch to the OSU Lima campus for the first semester if OSU switches to digital-only classes. Other colleges that he considered included: Ohio Northern, University of Cincinnati, and the school that got beat by Appalachian State in football.
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Findlay's Drew Swisher at States - Click to enlarge |
He is an OTZ-approved math/science student. He took three AP's (Chem, Stats, and Calc) at Findlay. He enjoyed AP Chem the most. Swisher also loaded up his curriculum with other science courses.
His interest in the medical field may be influenced by his mother, Allison, who is a physical therapist. It is probably safe to say that every sports family would benefit from having a physical therapist in the household. Swisher's father is Sean and he is also the Findlay high school tennis coach. Sean's day job is the Findlay School District assistant treasurer. Swisher's siblings are Sam, who will be an eighth grader next year, and Sydney, who will be a junior. Sam may eventually find himself on the Findlay team.
Swisher benefited from playing other sports (soccer and baseball) early on. "I started playing tennis in the 5th grade after most of the other sports didn't work out. I liked all the other sports but I never really fell in love with a sport. I found my sport in tennis. I would hit on my garage all the time and I took lessons whenever I could. My dad had played tennis for years and he helped me pursue the sport. My mom doesn't really play but my siblings do."
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Swisher at the State Team Tourn. - Click to enlarge |
Swisher had hoped to build on his tennis successes last year with another trip to States and the State Team Tournament. "Max's [Max Hosey] and my goal after States last year was to make it back and try to get to day two of State's. We had won a tight first round match [against Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula / Marcelo Aguilar] and ran into the two buzzsaws that were the two freshmen from Mason [Vignesh Gogineni / Anish Gangavaram]. We worked from that point on to improve our doubles skills and chemistry." Swisher and Hosey's success against Liberty could be attributed to their underdog mentality, plus they executed the basics by returning and serving well.
Swisher's favorite tennis stroke is his forehand, but he can counter-punch effectively thanks to his speed. He stated that my "defensive game is stronger than my offensive game" When asked about what he enjoyed most about high school tennis, he replied, "I liked the team atmosphere the most. The best times were in the van on the way to matches and the feeling watching a deciding court when the match score was 2-2. I guess I'll miss the bonds I made with my teammates."
In addition to liking tennis, Swisher also has a great interest and knowledge of the various brands and models of tennis racquets. He personally uses Babolot Pure Strike with Laserfibre Smooth (co-poly) string. Swisher also has a tennis stringer and that could come in handy if he decides to play for the OSU club team.
While OTZ usage is sparse in Northwest Ohio, Swisher does use OhioTennisZone. "I liked how OTZ covered the state tournament. The live draw was awesome and I liked how everyone had a picture by their name on the draw." (Click for the 2019 OTZ State draw.)
Swisher's service projects at Findlay included running their summer tennis camp. "I felt like this was the best way for me to pass on the love of tennis to my community."
He is a social media user. Snapchat is his favorite, followed by Twitter (@SwisherDrew), and Instagram.
Coach Swisher shared this about his son, " Drew is a player that played #1 singles since his freshman year. He loved the team aspect of the sport and being part of a team. Nothing got Drew more fired up than a team win even if his court didn't go his way. He also loved the challenge of playing #1 no matter how tough the opponent was. While having the coach/dad/ player relationship was tough at times he will be certainly missed next year."
Best of luck to Drew at Ohio State next fall.
