Situations are not always ideal when you set out to chase your dreams, but sometimes all it takes is a little determination and dedication to get where you want to go. Colin Pickett has just that.
About Colin
Colin Pickett is 16-year-old student at Mitchell High School and is in his junior year. Not only does he attend Mitchell, but he is an athlete and musician on the side too.
He runs cross country, which he has done since 6th grade, and is involved with veterans’ events where he plays TAPS on his trumpet. Not only does he do those things, but he is also part of the Sioux Falls Swim Team. Pickett posts a 4.0 GPA as well, including taking several hours of college courses.
Every day, Pickett makes the journey from Mitchell to Sioux Falls for swim practice.
His schedule is as follows:
- Monday: 4-6pm Swim Practice, 6:30-7:30pm Weightlifting/Power
- Tuesday: 5:30-7am Swim Practice, back to Mitchell for school, 4-6pm Swim Practice
- Wednesday: 4-6pm Swim Practice
- Thursday: 5:30-7am Swim Practice, back to Mitchell for school, 4-6pm Swim Practice, 6:30-7:30pm Weightlifting/Power
- Friday: 4-6pm Swim Practice
- Saturday: 9-11am Swim Practice
Bearing the Fruit
Pickett isn’t just a regular athlete. He is dominant. Recently he had a successful swim meet in Iowa City, IA at the 2025 A3 Midwest Challenge where he:
– Swam seven individual events and set new personal bests in all of his swims
– Finished in 3rd place in the 400 IM & 100 Backstroke
– Set four new 15-16 year old boys state records (400 IM, 200 IM, 200 Backstroke, 100 Backstroke)
– He also broke the 17-19 year old boys records in the 100 and 200 backstrokes
Currently Colin has the fastest times ever in the backstroke for South Dakota boys swimming. An impressive feat for someone with a jam-packed schedule and all at the age of 16-years-old. He’s also the first boy ever in SD to swim a sub-50 second 100 backstroke, doing so in 49.16 seconds.
We spoke with his mother, Jessica Pickett, about her son Colin and her thoughts on all her son is doing and accomplishing. “As a parent, I’m extremely proud of his hard work and his dedication,” Jessica said. “He could be doing all kinds of other things, but he chooses to put the work in and succeed at what he does. Not only in the pool, but academically too. I’m very proud of his academic achievements and everything he has worked for. His dedication is just amazing to me.”
Pickett has officially qualified for the Winter Junior Nationals swim meet that will be in Austin, TX in December. He is currently the only boy in SD qualified and even has two female SFST teammates who have qualified as well. Additionally, he’s qualified for six futures swim meet events for this summer.
He is ranked atop the rest in first in South Dakota for boys swimming and 216th internationally for the graduating class of 2027, according to swim cloud. He is 158th in the United States.
Chasing the Dream
The dedication shown by Colin is remarkable. Within this busy schedule and all the success, along with what is to come, Colin has no regrets. The gas, the time, the homework and everything in between. He continues to do the work.
We also asked Jessica how Colin got started and if anyone in his family was or is a swimmer. “Actually, he was a baseball player for many years and swim just kind of came as a side deal as a recovery sport for baseball,” she said. “He grew into loving swim and that became his primary sport. My mother did swim, there’s Aunts and Uncles on my husband’s side that swam a little, but it wasn’t really anything we knew anything about. It was just a little side something to try.”
Nothing is stopping this young man from being great. It even paves his path towards the future knowing that he built this level of determination and dedication to something he loves at such a young age.
In all this travel and swimming for Sioux Falls, she did note that he did used to swim in Mitchell. “He did swim here with the Dakota Riptide,” Mrs. Pickett said. Unfortunately, when our pool broke down, we had the choice to go either to Huron or Sioux Falls so we chose to go to Sioux Falls. After one year in Sioux Falls he decided to stay and he enjoyed the coach, who is a former Mitchell swimmer and coach (Kyle Margheim), he also enjoyed the friends there, so he stayed in Sioux Falls. My daughter, who also swims, did come back to Mitchell. We also fully support the Dakota Riptide in Mitchell; they’re a phenomenal program.”
It wasn’t always this way for Colin, though. He wasn’t always this good and the skills didn’t come naturally. Pickett started at the bottom and had to work his way up. “He has achieved some pretty big things in these few years, Mrs. Pickett said. “He went from just getting to qualify for state, to now being the best in the state. He has seen tremendous growth, and it has been fun to watch.”
It’s safe to say Colin is on the right path. In his sports and in the classroom is he getting it done, but he also has the support system with him along the way. Which I’m sure just makes him more and more sure that each day, his dedication and determination for what he loves to do, is all worth it in the end. This is just the beginning, in the story of Colin Pickett.