When the head of one family met that of another, the Hill family, at Drury in the 1980s, it began a friendship that would eventually spawn an athletic program.
Per Brinck was one of those men, having traveled to Sweden from the the United State to swim at Drury University. There, he met Pete Hill, now the head coach of the Nixa swimming team.
When their sons became high school age, they pushed for Nixa, which already funded a girls program, to include boys. Niklas Brinck was a member of the flagship team, eventually capturing a state championship. His sister, Anna, soon followed.
Now, it’s the youngest of the Brincks, Daniel, who has made a name for himself as a senior.
“I’ve been kind of surprising myself as I go,” he said of his success this season. “My results last year have just made me work even harder to do better at state.”
This actual Swedish fish was the only area boys swimmer to finish all-state in two events last season. Individually, Brinck placed sixth in the 200 yard freestyle and seventh in the 100 yard freestyle last season. He also held down a spot on Nixa’s 400 yard and 200 yard freestyle relay team.
As a sophomore, he also competed in the 50-yard freestyle in St. Charles.
The proof of improvement is there, and Brinck, affectionately dubbed “Daniel-son” by Hill, an homage to The Karate Kid, has come out of his shell along the way.
“He thinks about that swim, what he’s going to do, and what will make that race a great race, and then he goes out and does it,” said Hill.
Brinck also now owns the Nixa record int he 200, previously held by Niklas. Since being tossed in the pull as a six-year-old by a swimming family, his choice to pursue competitive swimming is paying off.
“I never thought I was that good until freshman year,” he said. “That was when I really started getting into it because I realized I had some potential. Winning kind of got that streak going. When I saw that I could actually win something I got pretty excited.”
The prospect of winning will rear its head again on Nov. 2 at the state meet, where he aims to surpass his junior feats.
“I’ll hopefully place even higher at state this year. Top five or three maybe, that’d be amazing.”
