He is an American record holder, a national champion, a World Championship finalist, as well as the most decorated swimmer at the World University Games (with five gold medals, one silver and a bronze).
Ress will be competing once again for the Cali Condors. “It feels pretty good. It’s nice to be on a team like that again, where the team atmosphere is there, just like college,” he said.
He is thrilled to join forces with General Manager Jason Lezak yet again. “It’s so exciting. People still watch his 2008 Olympic relay race and get goosebumps,” he said.
When asked about his personal favorite stroke, he responded, “Long course, I like backstroke. Short course, I like freestyle.”
Ress spoke about the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to 2021. “This is beneficial for me since it gives me an extra year to improve because I know that I still haven’t maximized my potential,” he said. “Obviously, it was a good decision for them to move it to next year.”
On the commonalities that he sees among champions, he said, “Champions are so good at resetting themselves mentally outside of swimming like Caeleb Dressel. There is a reason he is the captain of the Cali Condors, other than being really fast in swimming, he makes people laugh outside of the pool. Once he gets behind the blocks, he is zoned in, locked in, and he has his game face on. All champions are good at that. Champions are good at improving the people around them.”
He shared that his biggest motivation is redemption. “I had a really bad senior year of college,” he conceded. “I was sad and mad after the NCAAs in my senior year, but it is what it is.”
Regarding the title of the current chapter of his life, Ress said, “Adaptability.” “I think adaptability is good for me and this season might be good for me too,” he admitted.
On life during quarantine, he said, “I have been pretty good. That’s kind of my normal schedule anyway since I play video games a lot. Mostly, I was swimming and playing video games.”
In his spare time, Ress enjoys playing Blink-182 songs on his Tom DeLonge Signature guitar, as well as live streaming video games on Twitch.
Ress defined the word success as knowing that he couldn’t have done anything better throughout the year to swim better at the competition.
To learn more about American swimmer Justin Ress, follow him on Instagram.
