SIU swimming and diving captain Justin Ruszkowski has come a long way since his first semester at SIU.

“As I look at Justin Ruszkowski as a whole, I look at a young man who will leave here a better man than where he was heading when he came in, and so very pleased with him,” said swimming and diving head coach, Rick Walker.

Walker said Ruszkowski has found a new level of seriousness, and has made the most of his responsibilities as a leader.

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Ruszkowski said his role as captain is to push his peers and to keep the team working to reach their goals.

“My job as a captain is to really push everyone,” Ruszkowski said. “To be able to say the thing that the coach normally wouldn’t be able to say to them, I think that’s where we step in, captains.”

Walker said Ruszkowski has established himself as a leader, and that one example of this is his ability to keep the team united.

“We always constantly fight … the communication between the divers and the swimmers, because what they do is on the board, they have their own time,” Walker said.

Walker said that Ruszkowski has been a primary component in marrying these sections of the team.

“He’s gotten the respect on the pool deck simply because he’s involved with the athletes,” Walker said. “Doesn’t matter, ‘I’m a diver, they’re swimmers,’ … right there you’ve created a divide and what Justin has done is said ‘Nah, wait a minute, we’re the Salukis’ and that’s done wonders as far as trying to bring everyone together.”

Ruszkowski said he came from a gymnastics background and he started diving out of a desire to try something different.  He said the main reason he chose to dive here is the SIU swimming and diving staff’s interest.

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“Their interest in me really drew me in here,” Ruszkowski said. “They told me they just saw a lot of potential so, that got me … thinking I could have a great career here.

Ruszkowski said as he reaches his personal goals, he sets the bar higher for the next time around.

“Making finals for conference, that was a big goal of mine.” Ruszkowski said. “This year I hope to make top three.”

Ruszkowski said the team’s swimming and diving divisions cheer on each other when they can.

“Both sides of the team … we all cheer for each other,” Ruszkowski said. “When I’m not diving for a meet, I’ll go over and scream with everyone else on the sidelines.”

Matt Kruse, a senior swimmer studying recreation and Ruszkowski’s roommate of two years said he and Ruszkowski constantly encourage one another to perform their best.  He said they have become much more intuitive with each other during the season.

“During season I’m always talking to Justin, I know what a good diving score for him and during meets he knows what a good time is for me,” Kruse said. “We know what the other person is doing and we’re able to keep track of each other.”

Kruse said with the seniors who have established themselves and the incoming talent, the team will be a force to be reckoned with in conference competition.  He said the divers are primarily freshman and they will play a big part in the team’s success.

“We have really good divers coming in too, so there’s a lot more points coming from the diving section this year and it just seems like as a whole we’re going to need those divers and they’re going to play a big role this year.”

Kruse said this is the year for the team to make the goal of taking the Mid-American Conference championship become a reality.  He said it is what everyone is fighting for.

“This is our year, I’d say,” Kruse said. “We’ve been working at this since freshman year. Team seems like it gets better every year, so with all the new freshman … I think our goal and I think this is on everyone’s mind is to win conference.”