Heading into this week’s Ohio High School Athletic Association state swimming and diving championships in Canton, if the name Jarrett Jenkins from Anthony Wayne seems unfamiliar to opposing swimmers and coaches there is good reason — this will be Jenkins’ first trip to an Ohio state meet.

The Generals senior, who has qualified in four events — the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays — moved back to Ohio along with his parents, Andy and Kim, and younger brother Brennan, in August of 2023.

The family had moved away from their home in the Anthony Wayne school district in 2017 to the Denver area, where Andy’s oil and gas business is based. And, when the family returned in August of 2023, Jarrett was hindered by two injuries in his junior year in the pool.

First, just three days into his junior year at Anthony Wayne, he sustained a significant cut to his forehead and a concussion after being struck by the dislodged blade of a ceiling fan.

A 13-week training hiatus followed with the Generals’ swimmer in concussion protocol that prevented him from playing water polo in the fall, and slowed his preparation for his first swim season with AW in 2023-24.

Back in the pool full time, Jarrett one day felt a sharp pain in his lower back.

“I had a stress fracture in my back and didn’t know it,” he said. “I was just swimming through it. The only thing I can recall [about the origin of pain] was from one of my club swim meets here. I was on my last turn, I pushed off really hard, and felt a shooting pain from by lower back down to upper butt. I had constant pain after that.”

Although he would continue swimming with frequent-but-manageable pain throughout his junior season, Jenkins finally got a definitive answer from an MRI scan shortly thereafter. He had been competing with a fractured vertebra in his back.

Another 13 weeks in a back brace prevented him from what would've been his next intended athletic pursuit in the spring of 2024 — as a sprinter on the AW track and field team.

Now, nearly a year after his fracture was diagnosed, Jenkins has healed sufficiently and had a full swimming season minus the pain.

Along with his younger brother, he has also taken on a regular weight-training program, and the brothers will be swimming together in three events at the OHSAA state meet — the 50-yard freestyle and the two relays.

“I cried,” Kim Jenkins said of the boys both advancing to state out of the district meet. “It was the best day of my life. My husband and I were both always runners-up [at district]. For one of our boys to win was just amazing.”

Kim (formerly Moden) Jenkins competed in the Ohio state meet while at Napoleon High School (class of 1998). Andy Jenkins did the same while at Oak Harbor (1997 grad), and the two met as swimming teammates at Bowling Green State University. Like their boys, both swam the 50 and 100 free for the Falcons.

Kim is thrilled that Jarrett's injury was finally diagnosed and that he was ultimately able to recover and return for his senior swim season.

“We saw a specialist,” Kim Jenkins said. “They think the reason why his back broke was that he was so athletic [prior to concussion] and then took the time off [after concussion] and did nothing for 13 weeks.

“When you go back, you’re more prone to things breaking because of atrophy. It’s crazy, but that’s the only explanation. He swam through it, but was in a lot of pain.”

Once healed, however, Jarrett saw his pool potential turn into reality.

“At the start of this season is when I figured out I had something,” he said. “That injury set me back, but I had still broke our school records for the 50 and the 100 free last year. It [not reaching potential] was just because of my back limiting me last year.

“I think a lot of this [senior success] was just me putting in work in the weight room and being hungry. Wanting to get faster so I could bounce back from last year.”

Jarrett registered district times that seem to give him a decent chance at reaching the awards podium as a top-eight finisher in the Division I state meet.

He enters competition at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton on Friday with the fifth-fastest seed time (20.82 seconds) in the 50 free and ninth fastest (46.87 seconds) in the 100 free.

These times are significantly lower than the school records he had managed to set as a junior (21.87 in 50, 48.81 in 100) while swimming through his pain.

The state's fastest seed time coming into the D-I 50 freestyle race is 20.06, and the best in the 100 is 44.01.

Whatever happens in Canton for the Jenkins family will be a viewed as icing on the cake.

Kim said that although they grew up in a swimming family, her boys have not been year-round swimmer themselves. Jarrett lettered in football (receiver and safety) as a sophomore at Douglas County High School in Colorado, and Brennan has played football since arriving at AW.

“When we lived in Denver, growing up they played travel football, travel basketball, travel baseball,” she said. “They played baseball in Cooperstown, New York. They have never really swam year-round.

“Jarrett has still not swam year-round because last year he got that concussion and didn’t have a fall sport. He swam with the broken vertebra that we didn’t know about. The injury didn’t show up on an X-ray. He basically used muscle relaxers to get through the season.

“When we finally found out, he had to quit everything and was in a back brace for 13 weeks. He didn’t get to swim in the summer, and didn’t get back into the water until September.”

Jarrett’s coach was not shocked by her top AW swimmer’s performance this season.

“I know last year was really frustrating for him, to be injured and not really have an answer as to what was wrong,” Generals coach Carolyn Strunk said. “So, being able to finally get that information and to take time off to heal was a key factor.

“To be able to come back from that was a struggle, and being able to get back in the water and be able to train much better this year without dealing with the pain was key to him being able to be successful this year. I’m not surprised he’s made progress.”

Jarrett hopes he performs well enough at state to open some eyes at college programs. He said he has gotten some interest from Division II and III programs, but he holds out hope of competing at the Division I level in college.

“All of the work gets put in before the swim,” he said of competing at state, “and you’ve just got to trust what you’re doing and hope everything falls into order to put your swim together.

“It’s exciting that I get to go to state with my brother and get to cheer him on.”

First Published February 20, 2025, 4:02 p.m.