Mark Heeter
It’s 5:30 a.m., and the sun has barely risen as Mark Heeter steps into the Dublin Community Recreation Center, his swim bag in hand. Putting his goggles and cap on, he prepares to enter the quiet, cold pool as the rest of Dublin sleeps.
This pre-dawn cold plunge is routine to the decorated swimmer, who is often wide awake before his alarm even rings.
These early mornings, paired with discipline and tenacity, have awarded Heeter many accolades. However, the 79-year-old swimmer’s journey began long before his recent accomplishments.
Early days
Mark Heeter
Heeter (right) at YMCA Swim Club with coach.
Heeter’s love for swimming started decades ago. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Heeter’s parents enrolled him in swim lessons and the YMCA swim club.
Heeter’s family was sport-oriented growing up, and as the youngest of three children, he followed in his brother’s footsteps by running track and playing basketball.
From there, Heeter competed on his high school’s swim team, breaking the school record for the 400-yard freestyle his first time swimming it.
After graduation, Heeter attended junior college, College of DuPage, and later swam for the University of Wisconsin Superior, then known as Wisconsin State University Superior.
After graduating, Heeter’s swimming career seemed to be over.
“I moved around, I had kids (and) taught them how to swim, and I didn’t go in the pool to swim laps,” Heeter says.
Return to the pool
Mark Heeter
Heeter (middle) with his college swim team, including lifelong friend and teammate Terry Brinkman (left of Heeter).
In 2013, more than 40 years later, Heeter suffered a mild heart attack. The retired athlete asked his doctor if he could swim instead of doing traditional rehabilitation.
“I just went over to the local recreation center, waded into the shallow edge of the pool and tried to go a little bit more, and then started swimming laps,” says Heeter.
After his return to the pool, Heeter quickly fell back into the rhythm of competitive swimming. He joined the recreation center’s early morning workout group and, just six months later, signed up for his first competition since college.
Heeter returned to competing fiercely, with his first competition being a U.S. Masters Swimming event in Cincinnati. He won first place and qualified for nationals in the 50-yard breaststroke.
This initial win skyrocketed him to compete on national and global levels. Almost 12 years later, Heeter is enjoying part two of his swimming career with no plans of stopping.
In 2023, Heeter medaled in seven events at the Senior Games in Pittsburgh. He took home four first-place wins. Heeter hopes to continue this success as he prepares for his upcoming competitions.
A local legend
Mark Heeter
Heeter's Sarasota relay team.
Accolades are not the only thing Heeter brings back to Dublin after competing around the globe. He frequently returns with insights for his early morning team and happily shares tips and lessons learned from his experiences.
“He’s kind of the type of person who doesn’t want the spotlight on him,” says Chris Paolini, an early morning workout instructor at the recreation center. “He’s always just like, ‘Hey I’ll do my thing and I’m here to share tips with anyone to make anyone a better swimmer.’”
Along with being part of the early workout crew at the pool, Heeter is also a part-time lifeguard after retiring from a career in human resources. His regular appearances at the pools have made him a familiar face to locals.
“I’ll walk down by the end of the pool, leaving the building,” says Heeter. “The coaches say, ‘Mark come on, there’s an extra lane over here, show them what to do.’ The local pool has been encouraging.”
This support, paired with encouragement from his wife and three sons, is part of Heeter’s success.
“I get up to go at five in the morning to go swim,” says Heeter. “When she gets up and I’m not there, for a lot of people that’s a bad thing. But this is a good thing.”
In addition to his morning swim practices and doing extra laps, Heeter also weight-trains at the recreation center multiple times a week. Going above and beyond in his training has allowed him to be successful.
“He (has) the self-discipline to do the work, the willingness to share tips with us to help make (others) a better swimmer, and just being an all-around nice guy to be around,” says Paolini. “You look forward to seeing him in the morning.”
More than a medal
Mark Heeter
Despite the accolades and recognition being a plus, Heeter’s true reward for competitive swimming lies in its physical and mental benefits.
“After I started swimming more laps and doing some more workouts, I felt 17 again,” says Heeter. “It brought me back. I still feel that way when I get in the pool.”
For Heeter, swimming is all about staying healthy and retaining the ability to show up for his loved ones.
“My wife encourages me to be healthy so I can be more mobile, more agile,” says Heeter. “She knows I like her to be healthy, so she can take care of herself. She likes me to be healthy, so I take care of myself. I like to be healthy so I can help her and her for me. So, it’s not just for ourselves.”
Terry Brinkman, a lifelong teammate and friend of Heeter’s, has witnessed his consistency and commitment to swimming and fitness.
“(Heeter) started to become a really superb swimmer because he’s always stuck at it,” says Brinkman. “He just loves the sport and he continued to work at it as he got bigger and stronger. He improved a lot. When I saw him again this past year, I was just surprised at what great condition he’s in, and that’s from really working hard at swimming.”
Outside his individual performances, Heeter is a part of the Sarasota Sharks Masters swim team with Brinkman. The two were part of a nationally-winning relay team last summer.
In July, Heeter swam in the 2025 National Senior Games in Iowa, along with a U.S. Masters Swimming competition. He has his eyes set on global championships in Hungary.
“I’m not as fast as the young ones in college and high-school, I don’t compete with them,” says Heeter. “But for me, I’m fast enough, and I feel good enough. That feels good enough and exercise feels like I’m doing a good thing.”
Disha Hoque is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
