SPOTLIGHT: Groves swim team wins three Fan Choice Awards

Groves H.S. wins coach, freestyle swimmer, and best relay in 4Frenzy

4Frenzy - Wylie E. Groves H.S. swimmer Jackson Gugni

Jackson Gugni Fun Facts

  • Swim Record: Broke the Groves pool record on Feb. 13th for 50 Free with 20.98
  • Favorite school subject: Retail marketing class
  • Favorite place in Beverly Hills: His summer swim club, Woodside Athletic Club
  • Favorite lunch at school: Which Which subs because Groves upperclassman can go out for lunch

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Groves High School cranked out the votes in the Boys Swim category and have won multiple 4Frenzy Fan Choice Awards. Ricky Forrest won Coach, Jackson Gugni won Freestyle Swimmer, and Groves’ swim team even won Best Relay with their 400 Free!

4frenzy - Groves Coach Ricky Forrest and Freestyle Swimmer Jackson Gugni

Jackson’s goal for swimming has always been to develop himself into an Olympic trial qualifier. From there he’ll decide his future, as he likes to stay in the moment and take it day by day. After graduating from Groves, he will be swimming for Boston College and attending their business school in the hopes of one day becoming a sports agent.

Being one of the team captains for the last two years has been loads of fun for Jackson, and he speaks highly of his team. "Not only do I get to spend time pushing my teammates, but also developing relationships and gaining a close-knit group of friends. The guys on this team are my extended family.”

4Frenzy - Swimmer Jackson Gugni

Jackson feels that he hasn’t had a singular role model in his life because he has so many great influences and hopes to take all the information and wisdom he can from lots of different people. He does think that his parents in particular have taught him valuable lessons in responsibility and his coaches have been the ones to show him the importance of hard work and determination.

“Our team at Groves is honestly a dream,” says Jackson. “Our head coach Ricky Forrest has been with me since freshman year and has done a great job of developing me into a better leader and swimmer. Our assistant coach Bill Thompson is actually my head coach at my current club team, Motor City Aquatics, and has decades of experience under his belt. The combination of those two along with our other assistant coach Jacob Carl result in extremely productive practices and a whole lot of fast swims."

4Frenzy - Groves H.S. Swimmer Jackson Gugni

Jackson started swimming at age seven at Woodside and joined his first winter club team at age ten but says the time he’s spend swimming went by quickly. "It’s nice to take a moment to just stand back and realize what great opportunities are given to you by swimming for your club and school teams.”

Just have fun with it, whether you decide you want to become the next Michael Phelps, or just spend some time exercising with friends for a couple hours a day, you should enjoy the time you spend swimming.

Jackson Gugni

He loves staying active, whether it be going to the gym, playing golf, or throwing the frisbee around with his friends.

4Frenzy - Jackson Gugni, Groves H.S.

Congratulations to Jackson, Coach Forrest, and the Groves swim team for working hard this season and caring enough about each other to vote and win! We hope to see more of Groves spreading the love in 4Frenzy this Spring.


4Frenzy

See winners at clickondetroit.com/4Frenzy. Spring 4Frenzy will begin March 9, so keep an eye on our pages for news.

Twitter: @4Frenzy

Facebook: facebook.com/4Frenzy

Instagram: @4Frenzy


We would like to thank our sponsor Ralph Jr. Wilson Foundation’s Project Play for their support!


About the Author:

Creative Services Associate Producer