Michael Strucko learned a lesson at a very young age that will probably benefit him throughout his life - mom always knows best.

The Marian freshman thought about giving up the sport of swimming several times when he was young, but each time his mother Rachel pushed him to stick with it - or as Michael remembers it, “she wouldn’t let me quit.”

The decision to continue swimming has proven to be a wise one for Strucko.

This past season, he captured a pair of Schuylkill League gold medals; District 11 gold and silver medals; and also qualified for the PIAA State Championships.

His incredible success - despite swimming for a school that doesn’t have a pool or even a boys team - helped Strucko earn the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Swimmer of the Year Award.

“I first started swimming competitively when I was around 7 or 8 years old,” said Strucko, who was also playing youth baseball at that time. “When I first started, I wasn’t a big fan of swimming. I didn’t like practicing ... I didn’t even like racing. I definitely enjoyed baseball more at that age.”

Strucko said he considered giving up swimming a number of times, but never did.

“I’m sure I would have never accomplished the things I did this past year if it wasn’t for my mother,” said Strucko. “She doesn’t believe in starting something and then quitting. So that first year I was racing, she told me I had to finish the season even though I didn’t want to.

“I thought about not swimming for a few years after that too, but every time I felt like giving up the sport, my mom pushed me to continue. I had been pretty successful, and I guess she realized I had potential in the sport ... as it turned out, I’m glad I listened to her.”

Strucko’s feelings about swimming started to change when he joined the Parkland Aquatic Club (PAC) when he was 12 years old.

“I had been having some success in the meets I entered, and a number of people recommend that I start swimming and training with PAC,” recalled Strucko. “It meant putting in a lot more time and traveling a much greater distance if I was going to do that, but I was starting to enjoy swimming more so I wanted to give it a try.”

As Strucko began devoting more and more time to the sport - he began to enjoy it more and more.

“I think a big part of it was being around kids who were extremely talented swimmers and were working so hard to improve. It pushed me to buy in even more,” Strucko said. “Even though it’s a lot of hard work, it’s a really fun atmosphere. That’s when I began to really enjoy the sport.”

To commit the amount of time to swimming that Strucko does, you have to enjoy it.

The recently-turned 16-year-old said he now swims 12 months a year. His typical week features five or six days in the pool, working two hours a session. In addition, he does dry-land workouts on two of those days before he gets in the water. He also spends 45 minutes in the car one-way just to get to Parkland.

But the hard work and long hours have paid dividends.

This season, Strucko won the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke at the Schuylkill League meet. He followed that up with another 500 freestyle gold and a 100 backstroke silver at the District 11 Class 2A championships. The district title also earned him a berth in the PIAA State Championship Meet, where he finished 18th out of 32 swimmers in the event.

Just as impressive as his medal haul has been Strucko’s improvement over the course of the season.

Strucko said he started the season with his PR in the 500 “somewhere around 5:20.” He lowered that to 5:11 during the season, and then shattered that mark at districts when he swam a 5:02.34. He then took that down to 5:02.31 at States.

Despite his success in the freestyle, Strucko thinks the backstroke might eventually be his strongest event.

“I like the backstroke, and if I wasn’t doing that right on the heels of the 500 free, I think my time would have been even better than it was,” Strucko said. “So I could definitely see the 100 back being my best event by this time next year. I might also attempt the IM, or possibly throw in the 200 free.

“I’m trying to keep all my options open. I’m still growing and refining my strokes. So I’m just going to work hard and see where all my times are next high school season.”

So while Strucko doesn’t know for sure if he will be trying to defend his gold medals in the 500 free next season, one thing he is certain of is that his goal will be to bring home more postseason hardware.

“Whatever events I end up swimming, I’ll have my sights set high,” Strucko said. “I’m determined to keep working hard and keep improving. I really enjoyed this past season. It was so much fun. I wouldn’t have imagined this about five years ago, but I’ve really fallen in love with swimming.”

As it turns out, mom really did know best.