Jakub Lewandowski of Pace’s men’s swimming and diving team is in the game for one reason and one reason only: Polish pride.

The son of two Polish immigrants began swimming competitively when he joined a club team, the Jeffco Hurricanes. Lewandowski has a love-hate relationship with swimming, meaning that while he loves the sport as a whole, there are aspects too it he does not enjoy.

It’s also where he snagged his nickname: The Polish Rocket.

“My coach from my club team called me [The Polish Rocket],” Lewandowski said. “Swimming is pretty much all for pride and yourself; I swim for my name, my family, and my country.”

Lewandowski’s passion derives from the incentives of swimming. He expressed that a football or basketball player may work hard for the incentive of getting drafted, but in swimming, “that’s an incentive that’s kind of gone,” Lewandowski said. “You’re not going to get paid unless you’re Olympic caliber.”

The incentives in swimming are hard work and leadership. He’s captain of the men’s team and knows the responsibilities needed to lead. Practice is intensive. The team practices everyday, with the exception of Sunday.

Lewandowski’s work ethic sets examples for the team and his small attention to detail is noted, too. He is a tapered swimmer, meaning his training intensity is reduced so that his body is in better condition for the championship meet.

“The thing with swimming is that it’s a very aerobic sport, if you miss one practice it’s the equivalent of missing two or three days of practice,” said Lewandowski, who holds the school record in the mile with a 16:44. “You work all season for one event, the championship meet.

Lewandowski was taught to race the clock and not the person next to him. He always aims to beat his best time. For challenges like swimming the mile, Lewandowski’s motto is “swim to survive.”

Lewandowski wears swimming on his sleeve; he also wears the Polish Eagle on his shoulder in the form of a tattoo. That pride of country is a common theme amongst him and his teammates.

Currently the team has members from Croatia, Japan, Greece, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Australia, and Spain. His men’s team is 3-0 as of Nov. 10 while the women’s team is 3-1.

The digital journalism major has enough confidence in his team that he thinks the team has a good chance of being one the top three teams this year.

Lewandowski hopes to have a future as an international media correspondent. He is very interested in what is going on around the world and is upset by the number of people who do not pay attention to what is happening. Lewandowski closely follows American politics.

The Colorado native also wants to do this in order to travel the world, one of his biggest fears is being stuck working a desk job in a cubicle.

Being able to speak both Polish and English, he hopes it is one of the factors that’ll give him a competitive edge in the work field.

He’s proud to be an American, but never forgets where his Polish ancestry lies.

“I respect every immigrant, that’s what this country is made up of,” Lewandowski said. “Don’t try to be like ‘Oh I’m 100 percent American.’ No one in America is 100 percent American, we all came from somewhere.”

That somewhere is Poland for The Polish Rocket and his team is lifting off this season.