North Allegheny grad Struk caps college swimming career

North Allegheny graduate Michael Struk ended his career as a member of the Washington and Lee men’s swimming team on a high note.

Struk, a senior, placed second in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16 minutes, 36.32 seconds at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship meet. He helped the Generals, of Lexington, Va., to their sixth consecutive title in the Division III league.

Eleven teams scored.

Struk said it was a career highlight.

“I was able to chase down one of the swimmers who had beaten me the year before, and went within a few seconds of a personal best,” he said.

The 6-foot Struk finished third last season and second in 2017. He did not place in 2018.

In addition, he was on the 800 freestyle relay team that set a meet record (6:56.26) last season.

“Being a distance swimmer, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to swim on a relay at a championship meet,” he said.

Struk, who placed seventh in the boys 500 freestyle at the 2016 WPIAL Class AAA championship, is undecided about retiring.

“Swimming is very time-consuming,” he said. “It’ll be challenging to find the time to train and compete.

“That being said, I’m a very competitive person and have a hard time staying away from swimming all together.”

Struk, who is studying German and politics and plans a career in government, said triathlons and open-water swimming are possibilities.

Generals coach Kami Gardner said Struk will be difficult to replace.

“Beyond his abilities in the pool, Michael was the true definition of a team leader,” she said. “He put in the time to develop relationships with the younger swimmers, encourage everyone during hard practices and make sure team success was always more important than individual success.

“Michael invested in people. We have all benefited from his contributions.”

Gardner said she will miss their poolside conversations.

Struk said he was fortunate to be on great teams in high school and college. During his career with North Allegheny, the Tigers earned four WPIAL titles.

“The highlights were the opportunity to swim with two motivated groups of people and all of the lifelong friendships I’ve made along the way,” he said.