Alumni, Arches, Students

In his first season on the Puget Sound swimming team, Brett Kolb ’23 qualified for nationals. Then his health took an ominous turn.

Brett Kolb’s breakout freshman swim season came with an odd aftermath: He couldn’t keep hydrated.

Kolb ’23 would go to the Diner on campus and drink a 64-ounce cup of water. Then another. And another. He didn’t think much of it, or of the numerous nightly bathroom trips, figuring he was recovering from a hard season. Weeks later, he mentioned it to his roommate’s mother—a nurse—who urged him to get checked for diabetes.

Busy with school, Kolb didn’t see a doctor right away. By the time he did, on a Tuesday, the doctor said he probably wouldn’t have made it to the end of the week. Kolb was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, his condition serious enough that he needed to be hospitalized for two days.

Swimmer Brett Kolb ’23

Brett Kolb ’23 doesn't let diabetes prevent him from competing as part of the Loggers swim team.

That was in 2019, not long after Kolb had been named Northwest Conference Freshman Swimmer of the Year and qualified for the NCAA Division III championships. Suddenly he was low on energy, faced with constant monitoring of his blood sugar, having to adapt to a radical change in diet.

He struggled with his identity (“I wasn’t viewing myself as a good swimmer anymore”) and wondered if his swimming days were over. For a time, he contemplated suicide.

“It was a really dark point where I was thinking about just not wanting to be here anymore,” he says now. He leaned on a built-in support system of friends, family, and teammates. Still does, he says.

Teammates and coaches helped Kolb reset his life and his priorities in the pool, making it less about times and more about fun. When he went back home to Carson City, Nev., during the pandemic, his club coach, Julie Hardt, helped him train and manage his diabetes. When Kolb, who now wears a blood-glucose sensor while swimming, felt guilty about having to leave the pool due to dangerous blood sugar levels, teammates reassured him it was OK. When he felt spent after a race, teammates made sure he was safe.

Kolb rediscovered joy in the pool, and faster times followed: He was named to the all-conference team this past February, his senior season. Next, he plans to take a year to travel before entering Puget Sound’s Master of Arts in Teaching program.

“He is one of the most positive people I know,” says teammate Ethan Schwartz ’24. “Which is incredible considering all he’s been through.”

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