Polar Bear Spotlight: Jackson Stanley
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — It wasn't until his senior year of high school that Jackson Stanley (Beavercreek) knew he wanted to swim at the collegiate level. But once he came to that realization, his decision to attend Ohio Northern soon followed. He's now a fifth-year senior in ONU's pharmacy program and is looking forward to helping the men's swimming and diving team in its quest for a 22nd straight top-three finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships this season.
"Jackson is entering his third straight year as a captain, which is something that doesn't happen often and demonstrates that he has the respect of his teammates," ONU swimming and diving head coach Austin Veltman said. "He loves the sport and cares about the team a lot."
Being a team captain is a role Stanley embraces as he looks to set the team up for future success.
"Each year, I see the new freshman class as a group of people to connect with and spread the values of the team," he said. "I want to impose upon them the values of the team so they can see what they can do to better themselves and the team as a whole."
As a three-year letterman and five-time All-Conference performer, Stanley has the clout to serve as a leader for the Polar Bears. He was part of ONU's 200 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay teams that earned All-Conference status last season and the 200 and 400 medley relay teams that did so in 2020-21. Additionally, he holds the second-best time in school history in the 100 fly at :49.63, which is just 0.39 seconds off the all-time record set by Jordan Breitigam in 2013. Though he considers the upcoming season a bonus year in many respects, Stanley has his eyes set on breaking that record before leaving Ada.
"The only true personal goal I have this season is to get the 100 fly school record. I've been so close to it many times," he said. "I'm going above and beyond so I can try my best to accomplish that goal."
Now in position to leave ONU as a record-holder, Stanley has come a long way in his swimming career. He was first introduced to the sport in the summer after his fifth-grade year as a member of the Cardinal Hill Swim Team. The team's coach at the time, Jason Luthman, was finishing out his final seasons as a swimmer at ONU. Little did Stanley know that he would later swim for the Polar Bears as well.
"That's a cool connection that he was my first-ever swim coach, and now I'm on his college swim team," he said.
Stanley later swam for the Kettering City Swim Team until his sophomore year of high school when he joined the Dayton Raiders Swim Club. Outside of club swimming, he also competed for the team at Beavercreek High School.
As a high school senior, Stanley decided to pursue a collegiate swimming career and a degree in chemistry. That led to campus visits to ONU and Baldwin Wallace, and he ultimately chose the former thanks to its small size and the prestige of its pharmacy program.
"I fell in love with the small quaintness of ONU. It's like having a second family because you get to know everybody on campus," he said. "I knew I wanted to be in the healthcare field to help people, and that's what switched my thinking from chemistry to pharmacy, and ONU's pharmacy program is superb. The professors genuinely care about your learning experiences, and if you have questions for them, they'll gladly help you."
He has also appreciated how flexible his professors have been in terms of helping him balance his academic and athletic responsibilities.
"It's all about having a conversation with them in advance because they're always going to be understanding," he said.
He has also enjoyed being coached by Veltman and assistant coach Erin Chrissobolis.
"Coach Veltman is super organized like I am, and he keeps everything planned out. And Erin, the assistant coach, is very similar in that sense," Stanley said. "Having coaches that plan ahead and know what we're doing for workouts means they can observe what's happening and provide suggestions."
While pharmacy can be a difficult major, Stanley credits his high school education with providing him with a solid foundation of knowledge that made his first couple years in the program go relatively smoothly. During his junior year, though, he found he needed to study a bit harder.
"Something I've started doing is after listening to the lecturer, I review my notes, which helps me study for exams," he said.
And while time management has always been one of his strengths, Stanley relies heavily on the calendar app on his phone.
"My calendar is my best friend," he said. "If I don't have my phone, I have no clue what is happening."
That calendar has come in handy in helping Stanley navigate what has been a busy college career. In addition to swimming and studying pharmacy, he has been involved with the National Community Pharmacists Association and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at ONU. As an NCPA member, he was part of a team that earned second place in a business proposal contest in which they devised a rebranding strategy for a pharmacy in Findlay. As a sophomore in SAAC, he helped integrate the SAAC Sunday program that featured guest speakers talking to athletes about such topics as mental health and transitioning to college life. He was later elected to leadership positions within SAAC, serving as vice president as a junior and secretary in his senior year.
As if those activities haven't kept him busy enough, Stanley has also been gaining professional experience by working at a Meijer pharmacy for the past two years.
"I love interacting with people at the pharmacy because I feel like I'm helping them," he said.
Stanley has enjoyed his experience at Meijer so much that he would like to remain with the company upon graduation. Eventually, he'd like to work at one of the Meijer locations in Michigan.
"I've always loved Michigan, and we've taken lots of family vacations there, so I'd like to stick with Meijer and go to Michigan," he said.
For now, though, Stanley is focused on closing out his swimming career on a high note and earning his pharmacy degree. While this season may represent the end of his competitive swimming career, he's already found a new avenue to test his physical abilities — the Ironman Triathlon.
Stanley competed in an Ironman Triathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, in June, completing the event's 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26.22-mile run. In preparing for the event, the swimming portion was of little concern and so too was the biking portion thanks to his prior experience biking from Cleveland to Cincinnati on the Ohio to Erie Trail in a three-day span with his dad and a friend. On the second day of that trip, they biked 191 miles from Canton to Beavercreek.
"We did 191 miles in a day, which was 17 to 19 hours, meaning I'd have no problem spending five to six hours doing 112 miles," Stanley said. "It was just a matter of if I could run a marathon after all of that."
Stanley began training for the Ironman following the 2021-22 swim season, focusing on his running and endurance. Having completed the grueling affair, he believes it has given him a new perspective on swimming.
"I feel like that unlocked a new gear for me," he said. "Doing an Ironman, you're putting your body through continuous endurance pace. Being able to do that for such a long duration made me realize that I can go one more level up in the intensity I can bring to swimming."
More about Jackson
Fun Fact: Jackson has twin sisters and another sister who all swim competitively.
Top ONU Professor: Jackson enjoyed the nutrition course he took in his junior year that was taught by Dr. Amy Stockert. "That changed my overall swimming ability for the rest of the season," he said. "As we were learning different things, I was applying it to my life with tracking what I was eating and calorie counting. That helped me set up a plan that helped me be more successful in swimming."
Hometown Tidbit: Beavercreek, Ohio, has become a competitive area for swimming. In February, the Beavercreek High School boys swimming and diving team won the Division I state championship, defeating perennial power St. Xavier by a score of 211.5-207.5.
Jackson's Favorites
Food: Bowtie Pasta with Chicken Meatballs (his mother makes it for him on his birthday)
Restaurant: None
TV Show: Dexter
Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Sport (other than swimming): Biking
Pro Sports Team: None
Pro Athlete: Caeleb Dressel
Music Genre: None
Singer: Kid Cudi
Place He's Traveled To: Holland, Mich.