Seven Questions with Matthew Hensel ’25, Co-Captain of Middlebury Swimming and Diving

Matthew Hensel ’25, co-captain of the Middlebury men's swim team alongside Samuel Hughes ’25 and Jack Undercofler ’25, recently closed out his final season in the pool. The Economics major and Environmental Studies minor from Houston helped break the school record in the 800-meter relay at this year's NESCAC Championships hosted at Middlebury. In this edition of Seven Questions, he reflects on his competitive swimming journey, leadership experience and the memories he'll carry forward as he graduates.

Ting Cui: You recently competed at the 2025 NESCAC Championships. How did it go for you individually, and what was it like to break the school record in the 800-meter relay with your team?

Matthew Hensel: Individually, I think NESCACs went about as well as I could've hoped. Everyone always wants their last meet to go well, and I was fortunate enough to go personal bests in all three of the [individual] events and all the relays as well. I couldn't have asked for it to have gone much better, to be honest. To be able to swim the way I did, go a bunch of best times, and overall place higher than I ever had before – it was pretty cool to be able to do that and end on a super high note.

As for the relay record, that one was really cool. The guys on that relay with me — Rodin, Pierce and John — we had a hunch since early December that it was gonna be the four of us that would have a shot at breaking it. Having that be a common goal for us since December and then finally seeing all the fruits of our labor come to fruition on the first night of NESCACs to open up the meet, that was pretty special. 

TC: In your sophomore year, you also helped set the school record in the 200 medley relay. What did that achievement mean to you at the time?

MH: Sophomore year was a roller coaster. I was fortunate enough to have a lot of success freshman year and wanted to carry that over into my sophomore year, and got very hyper-fixated on the times. When I got to my championship season, success was binary – it was either I get the time or I don't. I ended up getting disqualified in two different races [at NESCACs], which no one wants at a championship meet. But that same night, I came back and it was on the relay that broke the record. That was really cool after the morning getting DQ'd to come back and be on the relay record.

TC: As a senior captain this year, what has the leadership experience been like for you?

MH: It's been, for lack of a better term, a lot of fun. I feel like as a men's team in particular, there's a very good culture that's been set in place, and you really don't have to do too much as a leader. Obviously, you want to lead by example, and when issues come up, you're the one dealing with them. But it didn’t feel like a massive shift in responsibility, I could still be Matthew Hensel without having to do something different. I wanted to stay genuine, I didn’t want being the captain to change who I am. 

TC: What brought you from Texas all the way to Middlebury as a swimmer?

MH: I was never completely bought into swimming until the end of my sophomore year in high school. At that point, I was like, "Okay, this is a goal of mine to swim in college." I wasn't particularly fast then, so I definitely was not looking at Division I. Having been in Houston my whole life, I just wanted a completely different change of scenery for college. Looking at the Northeast and thinking about good academics, liberal arts, and a program where I could swim and potentially fit in with the team, that was kind of the initial criteria. 

TC: Looking back on your four years with the Middlebury swim team, what moments stand out as your favorite memories?

MH: That's a hard question. The [800-meter NESCAC] record is definitely up there from a performance perspective. 

But I think what I'll remember the most over the last four years is, it sounds cliché, but it's all the little things with the guys on the team. Every winter over New Year's, we always take a training trip down to Florida. It's the entire team there in a hotel, training for nine days. It's a lot of swimming, but outside the pool, we're all hanging out together on the beach, throwing a football or just running around having fun. Or the camping trip we take in the fall…you're out camping together, sitting around the fire, telling stories. It's moments like those that I look back on the most. 

TC: Now that your competitive swimming career is coming to a close, how are you feeling about this transition?

MH: It hasn't fully hit me yet that I'm done. I've been swimming since I was seven years old competitively, so there hasn't really been a point in my life where swimming hasn't been there. You wake up Monday morning after the meet, and then you're done, so that's been interesting to process and one that's gonna take a while. 

In the moment, I don't miss the practices and the daily grind of just getting up, going to lift, going to class, and then having practice for two hours. I don't miss that. But it'll definitely hit me at random times — Sunday during the final session at NESCACs… talking to my parents and my coach after my last race, it was pretty sad then. I think it'll manifest itself more once the new season comes around because it'll be weird that I'm not a part of this anymore.

TC: Do you have a go-to hype song to get ready for meets?

MH: I have a couple of hype songs that I cycle through. Any old Eminem songs like "Cinderella Man" or "Not Afraid" were always big ones for me. "Money Longer" by Lil Uzi Vert was also in the rotation for a while. Anything with a high tempo and intensity, usually some sort of hip-hop, to get me excited.