Back in the pool after missing a year in the wake of spinal surgery, senior Ezra Walsh working hard to regain former speed and no longer taking life’s smallest pleasures for granted

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Exhausted after his four swims in Chesterton’s lopsided win over visiting LaPorte, Trojans senior Ezra Walsh sat on a poolside bleacher and talked about his favorite sport.
“I love everything about this place,” he said, then apologized in advance in case he rambled in a way that didn’t seem to make sense, a result of being “completely wiped.”
“That’s the thing about swimming,” he said, “you’re always going to be tired. It just depends on how tired you let yourself get.”
Spoken like a young athlete who has needed a large dose of mental strength to overcome what has been thrown at him.
Coming off a promising sophomore season, Walsh was working in the summer of 2024 as a lifeguard at Indiana Dunes State Park, executing a save, when his swimming career was put on hold for more than a year, although he didn’t know it at the time.
“I was duck-walking them and I gave them one last pull and I just remember this chink and static go down my left leg,” he said. “It was the worst.”
Not even the adrenaline of the moment, considering what he was doing, could mask the pain.
Walsh went to a medical clinic, where he said he was told that “I did something with my hamstring because all my symptoms were in my legs. They told me at first it was a microtear in the glute area.”
Whatever it was, it wasn’t getting any better as he watched the months pass and waited to feel up to resuming his active ways.
“After that save, I felt like I had to limp everywhere I went,” he said. “It was definitely not fun.”
Tired of feeling old way before his time, Walsh eventually went to his physician.
“I told them I had a little pinch in my back whenever I would bend over and pick things up,” he said. “It was just a little pinch. It wasn’t bad. It didn’t hurt, but it definitely felt like it was something that wasn’t supposed to be there.”
That was enough information for Walsh to be referred to a back specialist.
“Right after an MRI, I was diagnosed with an L5-S1 herniated disc,” he said.
It was so severe that it required surgery. He missed all of his junior season and although he was in the pool some this past summer, he didn’t resume swimming daily until the fall.
“There were a lot of nights where I felt useless, not in a way that would be alarming, but I’m not doing all that I normally do,” he said. “I’m not even able to go for a run. It just felt like my freedom was kind of stripped away and there was nothing I could do about it. And at that point in time they had no idea what I did, just thought I was being a crybaby over a torn hamstring.”
There was a relief in knowing what the source of the discomfort was, followed by spinal surgery, a long rehabilitation, and resulting in a swimmer oh so happy to be back competing.
“I feel totally recovered. I feel amazing right now,” he said. “I never thought that I would miss being sore. I never thought that I would miss having to pull my legs out of bed after a rough practice the day before.”
But he did miss those occupational hazards of training as a competitive swimming.
The experience has given him an appreciation for “the things you take for granted. Even just going for a run, or weightlifting.”
And, of course, racing. Walsh competed well Thursday, swimming on relays that finished first and second and taking a pair of third-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 free.
“I’m fully recovered from surgery,” he reiterated. “I don’t even feel it anymore, but obviously that amount of time being out of the water would draw back my times a little bit.”
Walsh said his favorite event is the 200 free, his best time in it (1:51.01) coming as a sophomore. He didn’t break 2 minutes in his first race back this season. He swam a 1:54.97 Thursday, finishing not too far behind teammates Andrew Kazmierczak (1:53.86) and Daniel Vidt (1:54.19).
Walsh isn’t letting all that time he spent on land keep him from setting aggressive goals in water. After all, setting goals is in every swimmer’s DNA.
“I’m really really hoping I can surpass my old PR of (1:)51,” he said. “I’m really hoping I can get 50 or maybe 49. That would be amazing. If I put in the effort and really try, I think I can get that time down, especially if I’m shaved and suited.”
Walsh is not as far along at nearing his previous 500 PR (5:07.28), but did manage third place with a 5:24.23, finishing behind only Wolfe Lutterman (5:04.53) and Kazmierczak (5:12.17).
Lutterman also took first in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.72). Liam Eschaback won the 200 individual medley in 2:05.11 and Greydon Pieroni won the 100 butterfly (54.15).
The Trojans placed second in the 200 medley relay and took the top two places in the other two relays.
Diver Luke Hawkins was sidelined by injury and teammates Devon Thomas (183.85) and Callum McKiddy (173.30) were the only divers from either school to compete.