Blue Valley West senior Jack Punswick was lifted out of the pool by his teammates while the entire natatorium erupted in applause. It was the rival meet against Blue Valley North Dec. 5, and he had just completed the 100-yard breaststroke. He spent 15 minutes sitting outside of the pool, cradling a Gatorade and trying not to pass out. Jack had just qualified for state. He had also just completed 6 rounds of chemotherapy.
“I might have pushed myself a little too hard, but, you know, I had to win,” Jack said.
Jack isn’t the first member of the Punswick family to break records in the pool. Jack’s mother, Karen Punswick, who teaches English at Blue Valley Northwest, said that almost all members of the family swim and that Jack has since he was young.
“The joke is that every Punswick swims,” Karen said. “All of my kids have done [swim], all of his cousins have done [it], Eric and both of his siblings were swimmers.”
Jack’s father and Chief Human Resources Officer for Blue Valley schools, Eric Punswick, coached swimming at Northwest after swimming for Western Illinois University. Eric’s sister, Amy Spacek was a member of the first class of swimmers and the first graduating class of Northwest in 1994 and Kevin was a member of the boy’s swim team until he graduated in 1996.
“My parents wanted to make sure that all of their kids were drown-proofed because we had a boat. We would spend a lot of time in the summers on the lake, and that’s how they originally got us into swimming lessons,” Eric said.
According to Amy, when Eric started swimming, their parents also threw Kevin and herself into the sport because of the long all-day meets.
“It just became this family thing that we did,” Amy said. “It didn’t feel like a competition, but it just felt more like camaraderie, and it was a fun, shared experience.”
The family moved to Kansas when Eric was a junior and Amy was a freshman. At first, Amy said she was unsure whether or not she would continue to swim through high school, but ultimately decided to participate to meet people and make friends in the new school.
At the time, the Blue Valley High School and Blue Valley North High School swim teams were coached by Greg House. The separate teams practiced together, but had to compete against each other during meets. When Blue Valley Northwest opened in 1993, Amy said swimming and Coach House were big reasons she decided to make the move to the new school and finish out her senior year as a Husky.
“It was a neat opportunity to go there and be a part of something new and exciting and everything,” Amy said.
When Amy graduated, she went on to swim Division I at the University of Evansville in Indiana. When Kevin went to BVNW he became a scholastic All-American, part of the 1995 state runner-up team and the 1996 state champion team. After he graduated in 1996 he went on to swim Division II at the Truman State University.
While Kevin’s swim career ended in college, Amy and Eric continued to pursue it through coaching. Amy coached at Parkhill High School from 1998-2002 and Eric at Northwest from 1997-2005. Eric said he wanted to keep swimming in his life and his experience on the pool deck was very fulfilling.
“And I remember some of my athletes coming in and on those first days, you’re wondering if they’re going to make it through an entire practice. By the end of their four years, they’re standing on a podium with a medal in their hand,” Eric said. “Those were the types of experiences that I think were really rewarding as a coach.”
Even though he used to be a coach, when it comes to Jack’s swimming Eric said he tends to take on more of a parent role with his son.
“I’ll give tips every now and then, but I really want them to listen to their coaches,” Eric said. “One big thing we as parents can do is help our kids learn to be coachable and learn to trust [their coaches].”
Eric said Jack is extremely respectful and coachable, and his resiliency and positive outlook make him a great competitor and admirable person.
“That kid is my hero,” Eric said. “He’s a better swimmer than anybody in the family, and he’s a better swimmer than a lot of kids I’ve ever coached.”
Jack had returned to school swim season after a summer of traveling to national swim meets and breaking personal records. During this time, he said there were lumps in his neck he thought were muscle nodules or inflamed due to sicknesses he had over the summer. Jack went to his pediatrician Sept. 8 to get these checked out and the next day he was hospitalized on the oncology floor.
After multiple tests, scans and more than 16 hours without food, Jack was diagnosed with cancer.
“I asked [the nurse], ‘Do you have any preliminary results?’ And she goes, ‘Oh yeah, it looks like cancer.’ And then she leaves, like, out of the room. She’s gone,” Jack said.
Karen said that finding out Jack had cancer was crushing.
“There are no words to describe being told your child has cancer,” Karen said. “Seeing your child suffer is probably the worst feeling or experience a parent could have.”
Jack said his unfathomable diagnosis threw a wrench into his future plans. He had to cancel the rest of his D1 college visits for the month and other goals he had set for himself in the upcoming school swim season. Jack said he had school records he wanted to break and was also 0.8 seconds away from becoming an All-American.
“That was probably the biggest part, giving up on the things that [I] had wanted that were within the next couple of months,” Jack said.
His chemotherapy plan lasted four months, rather than the usual six-month plan, which meant more chemo in a shorter amount of time. At 8 a.m. every other Thursday, Jack would arrive for his chemotherapy visit; at 12:30 he would get home after the 45-minute drive and sleep until 7:30, waking up still nauseous from the chemo. For the rest of the weekend, Jack said he felt tired and sick. When Monday rolled around, he said he needed to get up and do something— for him that was swimming.
“Swim gave me a sense of normalcy, where I could go see people that I like, go do something that I love,” Jack said.
For Eric, he said his swimming team was incredibly important to him growing up. It was a sport he could indefinitely grow at, and he had a supportive community to do so.
“There’s some fun in knowing, hey this is how fast my body went at this time, you could have your personal best time and still not necessarily win the race,” Eric said.“I look back and I had a lot of success, but I think the thing that I remember the most is the strong bond with a team.”
Amy agreed, additionally mentioning the amazing swim community she made with her friends from a new school and the relationship she had with her mentor Coach House.
“I think swimmers have some of the greatest work ethic out there, and I dedicate that to Coach House,” Amy said. “Just the hard work he instilled in all of us but also the desire to continue to set goals and strive to accomplish them and just improve myself.”
Jack said his swim community is also very important to him, and they have offered an incredible amount of support after his diagnosis.
“My team made beanies that say ‘Team Jack’ and ‘No one ever fights alone,’ on them,” Jack said.
The support from the rest of his family and community Jack said has been overwhelming.
“Within the week of my diagnosis, I think 100 cards showed up at my door,” Jack said. “People I hadn’t talked to in years began reaching out.”
Ultimately, Jack said his family has been one of the most important aspects of navigating his diagnosis.
“Anna, my older sister, actually donated 12 inches of her hair to kids with cancer. My sister (Grace) turned her (softball) team into ‘Team Jack’, and my little brother (Luke) shaved his head in solidarity,” Jack said. “So my family has meant a lot.”
Amy said Jack is a special kid and their whole family has been rallying behind him.
“From day one, he’s been dedicated and determined to fighting this and beating cancer,” Amy said. “He’s showing all of us how we should attack each day and live our life to the fullest.”
Since finishing chemo on Dec. 26, Jack competed in the state swim meet Feb. 20-22, finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke and winning the Spirit of Sport resiliency award from the Kansas State High School Activities Association. On Feb. 10, he had follow-up scans showing the original cancer masses were gone, but two new “spots” had shown up. He will get more scans in about two months to determine if these masses have disappeared or if there is further action to take.
As for the future, Jack said he will take a gap year and continue to swim with his club, COOL Swim Teams. After that, he plans on swimming in college.
Jack said cancer taught him to maintain a positive outlook and avoid taking things for granted.
According to Eric, swimming has helped with Jack’s view on his diagnosis as well as treatment. He also said swimming was the perfect physical activity, as it is safe for Jack to participate in while the chemotherapy port is in his chest.
“I don’t think that we would be where we were without him having a place to go and be physically active,” Eric said.
Throughout his cancer journey this year, Jack said there has been unwavering support from friends, family and even strangers. He was overwhelmed by the amount of support from everyone and is grateful for all the people in the background cheering him on.
“No one ever achieves something alone,” Jack said.
