Joe Zemaitis
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- Year:
- 2002
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- Hometown:
- Scottsdale, Ariz.
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- Team:
- Triathlon, Cross Country, Swimming & Diving
Joe Zemaitis was born in Springfield, Illinois, and grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a homeschooled student he competed on the Horizon High School varsity cross country, swimming, and track teams. He also swam for the Phoenix Swim Club, where he was a team captain.
Zemaitis entered Lake Forest College in 1998 and lettered all four years in cross country and swimming and diving. He became the first runner since the rebirth of the program in 1995 to win a race and captained the cross country team for three seasons. In the pool he set a pair of program records and was a two-year captain. He helped Lake Forest claim a pair of Midwest Conference championships, was named the team’s Most Valuable Performer as a senior, and finished his career with five conference titles (one individual, four relay).
Zemaitis was named Academic All-MWC all three years he was eligible, received the MWC Roy LeClere Award, earned the College’s Scholar-Athlete award three times, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated summa cum laude. He was also a Rhodes scholarship semifinalist and recipient of the Senior Independent Scholar Prize.
While a freshman at the College Zemaitis competed in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, setting the 19-and-under record with a time of 9:57.10. He later became a professional in the sport and was the USA Triathlon 2005 Rookie of the Year. Representing the United States at 10 World Championship events, Zemaitis competed in 13 countries and 27 states during his amateur and professional careers.
In 2002 Zemaitis launched Swim Neptune, a year-round competitive USA Swimming club that has claimed numerous state titles and has grown to more than 500 members at several locations in and around Phoenix, Arizona. Among the highlights of his coaching career is the training of hundreds of athletes to complete the swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco and under the Golden Gate Bridge. He established the Foundation for Aquatic Safety and Training (FAST), an organization dedicated to spreading the message of water safety and teaching kids to swim. In addition, Zemaitis authored a book about parenting in relation to sports: Joe’s Rules.