Journeying from swimming lessons as a 1-year-old to senior co-captain of the ISU swimming team, Alex Gustafson’s whole life has been about her time in the pool.

Gustafson’s parents put her in swimming lessons as a baby where she learned to swim in her hometown of Waukee, Iowa. From there, she swam for the Des Moines Golf and Country Club, and when she decided she wanted to get serious about swimming, she became a part of the Central Iowa Aquatics club team in Des Moines.

In high school, Waukee did not have a pool so Gustafson swam for Johnston’s swimming team.

“It was the grind,” Gustafson said of driving to Johnston for early morning practices. “But from there, I started to see results under my coach. I loved my teammates. I loved competing. And then I started getting some calls from some colleges.”

Gustafson had dreams of attending a school on the west coast. She knew she wanted to swim in college, and was willing to walk-on if she had to.

“My parents were like, ‘You know, we’re not saying you can’t do that, but think about it.’ So I thought about it, and [ISU coach] Duane [Sorenson] gave me a call,” Gustafson said.

Gustafson grew up a Cyclone and thought to herself that there was no way she would end up in Ames. But she went on a recruiting trip where they showed her an everything the program had to offer. Gustafson also admired the environmental science program as well as what Sorenson said he would do to help make her a better swimmer.

She feels her most successful year on the swim team was her freshman year and her personal bests came from her that season. Gustafson believes her sophomore and junior year didn’t necessarily live up to her breakout freshman year in the pool.

“Going the times that I did my freshman year, swimming the events that I did, I felt so accomplished,” Gustafson said about her freshman year. “However, the past two years have not been as great … I think this year, I’ve slowly come back into that confidence and that has been one of the biggest accomplishments for me. It’s been kind of a tough road, and now I feel like I’m back on top of it.”

Gustafson points to her team that ignited the spark for her comeback, and now she is co-captain alongside senior Emily Wiltsie and senior Jessica Henderson. Gustafson sees herself as a leader by example, in some aspects, as well as a vocal presence by encouraging her teammates and being boisterous in team meetings.

“She has just been a very steady influence on our team. She’s always there. She always does the right thing,” Sorenson said of Gustafson’s leadership. “She kind of talks to each of her teammates individually and is just a steady influence.”

Gustafson describes her role on the team as a “strong, steady, you-can-always-count-on-my-participation-in-practice sort of thing.”

Gustafson also recently got a spot on the Women Impacting ISU Calendar, and was the first swimmer ever to do so.

“I want people to remember me as someone who was there for them as a good leader,” Gustafson said. “I want them to remember me as someone strong, and I want to be an inspiration. I really think I’ve shown that you can do all the things you want to do. You can be successful in whatever you put your mind to.”