Obstacles have about as much of a chance of stopping Amir Paschal as blades of grass have of challenging a lawn mower.
The Ferguson swim team standout showed that when he went out and won three events at the Munipal Swim League Conference North meet a couple years ago despite breaking his wrist earlier that day doing bicycle stunts.
He showed it again Tuesday by adding two more gold medals to his ever expanding horde after getting really sick winning his first one at this year's MSLCN meet at the Dellwood pool.
"I didn't want to go home," said Paschal, who felt he might have gotten dehydrated doing the first event, the 50 freestyle. "I wanted to give it a shot. If I was going to lose at least I was going to give it a shot."
Nobody could have blamed Paschal if he had left. After all, he felt terrible. He was lightheaded and dizzy. He had just lost his lunch in the locker room where, he learned later, "one of the competitors was in the stall next to me freaking out."
Paschal had already made his mark in the meet, too, by breaking a 15-year-old record held by Steve Caruso when he clocked a 24.12 in the boys 15-18 age group 50-yard butterfly prelims. So he could have left with his held head high. Very high.
However, Paschal still had the 50-yard butterfly final, his favorite event, to swim and the 100 IM final. There were gold medals to win and he did just that, claiming first in the 100 IM in 59.40 seconds and in the 50 fly in 24.22.
"It was horrible," said Paschal of having to swim while he was sick. "My coach told me to push through it. I just went in and did it."
His effort in the finals almost overshadowed his record-breaking performance in the prelims. Almost.
"I thought that was incredible," said Paschal, who will be a senior at St. Louis University High, of his record performance. "I was just really glad I finally got that done. I had been trying to get it for awhile."
"It was a big boost for the team to have a kid break a record," said Ferguson coach Tom Eagan. "It's real cool as a coach to have your swimmer break a record."
What's even cooler for Eagan is having a class competitor like Paschal around all the time.
"Amir is a key player who is just huge for us," said Eagan. "A leader, a huge boost, a huge example. He's very laid back. He very much leads by example and is very much willing to help the young kids. He's a quiet support a lot of the younger kids need."
He's obviously a big part of the SLUH swim team as well. After all, he was selected to be the team captain for this year's squad. The fact that he's qualified for state in six events the past two years along with his great attitude are undoubtedly two big reasons why.
Paschal hasn't won any medals at state for the Junior Billikens yet. However, he hopes the record he set for Ferguson helps spur him do just that this fall.
"It definitely gives me a feeling like it sets me apart in some way," said Paschal, who hopes to swim in college for a Division I program. "It definitely gives me confidence to shoot for greater things."
He hopes to excel for SLUH this year as well as for Ferguson in his final season next summer.
"I want to break my own record (in the 50 fly), the 50 free record and try to break the 100 IM record," he said. "I'll see what I can do. Hopefully I can."
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