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Blue Valley North swimmer Sam DiSette is the Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week

Posted at 6:30 PM, Feb 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-23 23:36:45-05

The Michael Phelps of Kansas City? Some would agree that Blue Valley North senior swimmer Sam DiSette is just that. 

DiSette has dominated just about every swim event he's participated in. The dominance was on full display this past weekend during the Kansas Class 6A Swimming State Championships. He won state titles in the 50 Yard Freestyle (0:20.09 seconds), 100 Yard Freestyle (0:44.15 seconds) and the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (1:25.47). DiSette also set state records in all three of his wins. 

"20.09 [seconds in the 50 Yard Freestyle should have] put him in the top ten in the nation last year. So, I'm kind of anticipating that it would be the same this year," Blue Valley North Swim & Dive Head Coach Derek Berg said. 

In addition, DiSette hasn't lost a single event in the 50 & 100 yard Freestyle events this entire school year. And, he currently owns four Kansas swimming state records and six Blue Valley North school records. That's Michael Phelps-like for sure.

Click here to view the entire Kansas Class 6A swimming state record list.

"You know, Sam works hard both in and out of the water," Berg said. "He'd give it 110 percent when he's in the water. He's swimming as hard as he can. Our program is built on intensity [and] you know swimming as fast as you can as often as you can. And, Sam modeled that, you know, day in and day out. [He] always gives everything he had to win and bought in to what we did."

DiSette's ascension to one of the best swimmers, not only in the Kansas City metro area but the entire Midwest region, has been meteoric to say the least. He said that he's been swimming since he was a kid. However, he didn't start swimming with Blue Valley North until his sophomore year in school. 

"I've been sprinting since I was little for the Country Club League," said DiSette. "And then, my sophomore year, these guys [at Blue Valley North] were like, 'You've gotta come out and swim here. You're really something. You have a lot of talent.' I played basketball my freshman year - and baseball. And then, [I] slowly made my transition just to only swimming and sticking to it."

The decision for him to solely swim seems to have worked out in his favor. DiSette will swim on a full scholarship for the University of Alabama in the fall - a school that his brother attends. He's had a great high school career and said he is looking forward to the next step in his swimming career.

"It's so special to me [going to Alabama]. You know, you're going to bed at night. You're just thinking about next year," said DiSette. "I get really excited about it. You know, they're just finishing up SEC's. They're just doing...they're just really dominant down there. They're just putting in so much work, so much effort. And, it just feels like a great connection."

Berg is surely happy for DiSette to move on to greener pastures. However, losing a key member of the Blue Valley North Swim & Dive is bitter sweet.

"Sam is one of our captains and a great leader," Berg said. "The guys look up to him again both in and out of the water. He's a tremendous friend and teammate."

NOTE: The Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week segment airs every Thursday night during the 10 p.m. sportscast for the entire school year.

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Ryan Marshall can be reached at Ryan.Marshall@KSHB.com.

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