With a new school year, comes a new freshman class, new teachers, new facilities, new ASC members, and new athletic coaches. In this particular school year, Jesuit has experienced a spark in the number of new coaches, and one of them, Eric Gusa, coaches swimming.
A Jesuit Dallas alumnus, graduating with the class of 2002, Mr. Eric Gusa is a special addition to the Jesuit corp of swimming coaches this year. After graduating from Jesuit, Gusa’s unique and exceptional swimming ability earned him a scholarship to attend Oakland University, located in Oakland County, Michigan.
However, after only one year, Gusa made the decision to leave and pursue another path for the time being. He stated that he “wasn’t planning on [leaving] after one year,” but “conflicts the coaches” pushed him to leave as he “figured [that he] needed something a little more challenging in [his] life, so [he] decided to join the special forces in the navy.”
Facing an absolutely new and grueling challenge, Gusa joined the navy, specifically the department named the Special Warfare Program for the Navy. Gusa’s sector was called Unit Special Boat Team 22, stationed at John C. Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. Gusa’s navy life consisted of “long hours” as he went through a boot camp training session for 2 months, and then an additional year of very intense training in Coronado, San Diego. It was only after such intense training that he settled with his boat team at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for the remainder of his navy career. His unit’s primary mission was involved with “hot extracts of navy seals and other special forces,” but there are also a lot of other missions that “he cannot really talk about.”
Gusa’s family did not know that he was thinking about joining until he literally signed on the dotted line and told them, but he assured that they were “very supportive with [his] decision and supportive throughout the six years that [he] was in the navy.”
After six years in the navy, Gusa decided to pursue another dream of his: “It’s always been one of my dreams to come back here and coach for Jesuit.” Gusa expressed that “the four years [he] spent here [at Jesuit] were probably some of the best times of [his] life, and another aspiration of [his] was to be a coach.”
Gusa’s family has a deep heritage here at Jesuit, all starting with his great uncle, Pat Traynor, the first Jesuit attendee, who graduated in the class of ’59 and founded the family business of the beloved Gold Coin Vending system that runs the Jesuit cafeteria. Gusa also had cousins and other uncles that have came here, and “it was one of [his] dreams in 8th grade to come here and continue that tradition.”
Gusa made his mark in the swimming community at Jesuit that is still here today. With a team of three other swimmers, Gusa helped set a school record in the 200 Free Relay event. He expressed that “still having that record on the board for 200 free relay is pretty exciting as it is one of the hardest to break.” This year, the Jesuit swimming team broke the school record for the 400 Free Relay. When asked about how it felt both to break a record, and coach swimmers who broke a record, Gusa responded first by saying, “When I was going to school here at Jesuit, it was everybody’s goal to get your name on that board… that’s what we strive for as a swimmer or a coach everyday.” However, Gusa also stated, “now being a coach, and being on the other side of the fence, I want [my] record to be broken.” Gusa wants “the kids that [he is] coaching now to be able to [break records]”, and now as a coach he feels that there “is more of a gratification than [his] breaking those records when [he] was here.”
Gusa “swam competitively for 16-17 years, starting from when [he] was six and ending when [he] was 23.” He has “pick[ed] up a vast knowledge of the sport and to [now takes] that knowledge and translates it into coaching.”
He believes one of the biggest accomplishments of this year’s team is “coming together and being as one, whole team.” In the next coming months, he hopes to help the team to “continue to swim fast and get better at what [they] do,” hopefully sending as many swimmers to district, regional, and even state events. Gusa believes that the main goal is to take regionals this year, a task that the Jesuit swimming team has never done, and Gusa says that this team is “very capable of doing it this year.”
A very recent accomplishment of this marvelous team is their finish in the Ranger Relays. After putting on the meet for 6 years and always coming in 2nd or 3rd, this year they took number one. “It was a very exciting moment, not just for myself and the swimmers, but also the parents to see how their kids are improving and accomplish something that big for [Jesuit].”
When asked about further career plans after his journey here at Jesuit, Gusa explained his current task to finish up his bachelors of science in Kinesiology, otherwise known as sports medicine. Along with fulfilling his dream of becoming a coach, Gusa hopes to become a physical therapist for any professional sports teams or even here at Jesuit.
After so many years away from Jesuit and now coaching here, what helped Gusa most coming out of Jesuit was brotherhood. “The brotherhood that [he has] not only with [his fellow] brothers but with the entire school” helped him embrace “the teachings [of being] a Man for Others,” a principle that very evidently abides by every day.
Lastly, Gusa expresses, “I’m very grateful [to] come back 11 years later to have this position as the swim coach for Jesuit and do what I love.” Not only is the Jesuit swimming team excited to have such an experienced, prestigious, and admirable coach, but the entire Jesuit community is excited to have him. Eric Gusa bleeds the profile of a Jesuit graduate and serves as an inspiration to every Jesuit Student. He has high hopes for the team’s success and Jesuit holds high hopes for his success in any other endeavors that he pursues in the future.
