Jonathan Novinski

All Novinskis are swimmers. It's in the birth contract. Every baby Novinski pops out of the birth canal ready to sign an agreement knowing exactly what's required of him or her.

Dan and Carole Novinski were collegiate swimmers for Nebraska, and all five of their children are swimmers. Not just paddle-around-in-the-deep-end swimmers. No sirree. These people are contenders-for-the-Olympics kind of swimmers.

Jon Novinski

"Are you a swimmer like all the rest?" my husband bellows at little Jane Novinski, the youngest of the tribe, in the Central Catholic gym.

She smiles wickedly with 11-year-old confidence and bellows right back. "I'm the best one of all!"

Her sister Kate, only a freshman at Central Catholic, is already winning her varsity swim events. Oldest brother Daniel, in med school at UNMC, swam for Wesleyan University and was an eight time state medalist in high school. Matthew, the second oldest Novinski, was a four time state champ while he was at Central Catholic and the number one college prospect out of Nebraska. He's currently at the University of Wisconsin and a Big Ten A-finalist in six events.

And planted smack dab in the middle of the Novinski clan - number three out of five siblings - is Jonathan. Funny, bright and friendly, Jon is pure joy in the classroom. Like his siblings, he's never once bragged about his swimming titles. THOU SHALL NOT BRAG, in capital letters, is a Novinski family commandment. It's what makes everybody love these wonderful kids.

"How'd you do at your swim meet?" I've asked various Novinski brothers as they've traipsed into my classroom year after year. 

"All right," is the typical response. This is Novinski code for, "I set two state records and fielded five scholarship offers. And that was in one afternoon."

Jonathan Novinski has never been cocky - not a day in his life. But as the middle kid in the family who's spent his entire life competing with his two oldest brothers, he was finally feeling every bit as gifted as the siblings he idolized. Last year, as a state record holder in the 500 freestyle and a three time defending state champ, he relished the idea of going out in a blaze of glory his senior year. His final goal was to earn a state title in the 200 freestyle before he graduated.

Young Jonathan in the pool

However, the real crowning achievement of his high school career was a scholarship offer from Harvard University. At Central Catholic, Jonathan Novinski would be the first student in the history of the school to attend Harvard. His swimming days, Jonathan thought last year with great satisfaction, could only get better.

Nobody, least of all young Jonathan Novinski, could have imagined what the year 2020 held in store for the world. Initially, Covid was just a nuisance. Jon was frustrated not to be training, especially because he was disappointed in his state times the winter before.

"I tried to take that in stride, though," Jon says, "and focused all my efforts into having a kick-ass senior year. Everything was going great until August when I had a wake-boarding accident and folded in half backward."

His back injury was debilitating. Neither treatments nor physical therapy improved his condition. Just when Jon thought it couldn't get worse, the bottom fell out. In October he caught the Covid virus. Even during the relentless self-quarantine, Jonathan forced himself to believe his back would eventually heal and that he would recover from the virus.

The Novinski brothers: Matt, Jon and Daniel

"Boy, was I wrong," Jon shakes his head. Just before Christmas break, Covid began to wreak havoc with his system. In one week he lost 20 pounds due to intestinal issues. That was just the beginning. Try as he might after Christmas, Jon suffered bizarre shoulder pain and enormous fatigue. "I'd never dealt with anything like this before," he says, "and I felt like I was in a different body than the one before. I was a Covid-19 long hauler, and I'd never felt so pathetic or useless."

There were many days, Jon admits, that he would leave the pool exhausted after a simple warm-up and drag himself to the locker room to cry. It hardly helped that interested reporters and fans constantly queried or posed the question, "Will Jon Novinski be able to defend his state title and finally claim the 200 yard freestyle title?" In just a few short months, everything about Jon's future - his senior year and his Harvard scholarship - seemed uncertain.

Jon admits now that his life long obsession to beat his older brothers in swimming and even in the classroom was perhaps a little unhealthy. Covid humbled him. Unable to swim a lap or even make it to school without spending hours in the bathroom knocked him off his feet.

Jon and girlfriend Morgan

"I was not okay - either mentally or physically," he said. During those brutal few months, his good parents helped him to cope and to put his struggles into proper perspective. Things would improve, they promised. But in his room, Jon cried night after night and credits his best feline friend Catboy for providing comfort in those dark hours.

In the meantime, even if he couldn't perform, Jon tried to be at every practice and meet to cheer on his teammates. He recalls his futile determination to defend his state, pool and conference record at the conference championship this last winter only to scratch before his prelim swim.

"I sat in the swimmer crash area wishing I could disappear after that," he says. 

However, State was only weeks away. Slowly, Jon's strength was returning, and he hoped for a miracle at State. "Really," Jon said, "it was a miracle I was even swimming at that point."

In spite of his brave hopes to win his fourth 500 freestyle state championship, Covid fatigue reared its ugly head during the prelim race. Jon and his coach made the difficult decision to scratch his attempt in the finals. It was over, Jon thought.

Jon and Catboy

Instead of feeling devastated after the state meet, however, Jon felt heartened. In spite of his 500 freestyle scratch, he still managed to join his teammates in the 200 and 400 yard relays and to lead off with his fastest times yet. Strangely, he felt at peace about the awful year behind him.

"I understood the ridiculous pressure I'd always put on myself the last four years to keep up with my brothers. And I realized that because of Covid, I was a better person. I can't believe I could always be so cold-hearted about people who struggled with mental health and physical injuries," he sighs. "I only feel empathy now and am so thankful for my family, my girlfriend Morgan, my teammates, my friends, and," he grins, "for Catboy."

At the very lowest point of his struggles a few months ago, Jon remembers attending a Reconciliation service to confess his sins to Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt. With vulnerable honesty, he put it all squarely on the line and admitted to the Bishop that he was mad at God for taking swimming from him during his last year of high school.

"It's hard to ask God why terrible things happen," his understanding Bishop spoke gently to Jon. "Instead, maybe it would be better to ask God, 'This thing has happened to me, Lord. What do I do with it?' "  Those words provided the first glimmer of hope and helped Jon to find his way out of the darkness.

"There was no choice, really, but to accept it all and ask God to help me learn from it," Jon reflects. "Eventually, I realized it was important to enjoy the relationships in my life and to be grateful for them."

The one good thing about Covid, Jon says, is that it reconnected him with those relationships. His entire family was all under one roof for four months during the pandemic. "Even my two big brothers were home. It was so much fun."

The Novinskis. From left: Jon, mother Carole, Matt,
Kate, Jane, Daniel and father Dan

Next year, Jon will resume his life. At Harvard University he'll study pre-med and biology. He'll swim, of course. And he'll do it all with new perspective. 

"We can't control everything that life throws at us, but there's a reason for all of it. My mother told me that," Jon grins his sweet smile, "and I truly believe it."

His mother is right. Of course she is. She's a wonderful Novinski, after all.