COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - When Carsten Reuter touched the wall to win the 50-yard freestyle at last season's MIAC Championships, the then-Saint John's University junior wasn't thinking as much about the other swimmers he'd just beaten

His thoughts were more focused on his time (20.56 seconds), which was almost a full second faster than his previous best.

"The first thought that popped into my head wasn't just that I'd won, though that was exciting," Reuter said. "It was also that I'd pushed myself to improve and go faster than I had before. That's what I love so much about swimming – the individual aspect. There's a team component too, of course. 

"But you're also constantly challenging yourself."

And challenging himself is what the St. Cloud Tech High School graduate has been doing since he first arrived in Collegeville as a freshman in the fall of 2022.

"Carsten is a very inner-driven kind of kid," SJU head coach Ben Gill said of his senior standout. "He has a lot of personal goals he wants to achieve and he pushes himself hard to accomplish them. He's always his own harshest critic and he's always looking for ways to improve himself. 

"He is competing against the other swimmers in his race, but he's more focused on being the best swimmer he can be. And that's gotten results."

Indeed it has.

Reuter currently boasts the MIAC's top time in the 50 freestyle this season (21.11) and sits second in the 100 freestyle (47.05) behind only senior teammate Brayden Slavik (46.92), last season's MIAC Co-Men's Swimmer of the Year.

He also has the conference's fifth-fastest time in the 200 freestyle (1:46.27).

"It's really all about my training and my team," he said. "That's been the key to any success I've had. You can train your butt off, but if you don't have the right group of people around you, you won't get as far.

"Having Brayden and all the other guys there every day makes a huge difference. We all push each other to get better."

But, in the end, it's his inner drive that Reuter relies on most when he steps onto the starting blocks.

"You have to believe in yourself," he said. "A lot of swimming is a mental battle, and if you have faith in your ability to accomplish the things you want to, it goes a long way."

That same approach serves Reuter well in the classroom where he is majoring in biology on a pre-medicine track.

"There's a lot of perfectionism in the world of pre-med," he said. "Everyone wants that 4.0. Everyone wants to ace every test. There's a lot of opportunity to compare yourself to everyone else around you. But there's always going to be someone with a higher GPA. Or with a better test score.

"Being focused on doing the best job I can do helps keep me grounded."

Reuter first became interested in a career in health care in high school, which led to getting a nursing assistant position at St. Cloud Hospital. He has gone to work as nursing assistant for Essentia Health at St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth the past three summers.

"I've gotten such great experience there," said Reuter, whose parents Bret and Nicole moved to Duluth just after his high school graduation and work for Essentia Health as well. "I've gotten to know a lot of the physicians and the nursing staff. I've been able to do a lot of different things. It's been amazing to work with people after open-heart surgery and to help them get up and move for the first time. 

"I've just found it all really rewarding."

Reuter – who has two younger sisters, one of whom (Elliana) is a freshman at the College of Saint Benedict – is also a member of the SJU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and works at The Study, a resource center for students on campus. 

But his primary focus lies in the pool where his team will play host to Carleton in an MIAC dual meet on Senior Day at noon Saturday at the Warner Palaestra pool.

This season's MIAC Championships are scheduled for Feb. 11-14 at the University of Minnesota's Jean Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

"There are things I want to accomplish, but my main goal is just going as fast as I can, spending time with my friends on this team and having fun," he said. 

"If I can walk away knowing I pushed myself to my limits and did the best I possibly could, that's a win and I'll be happy."