Levi Williams Leaving School Early For Navy SEAL Training

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ESPN - Utah State's Levi Williams to apply for Navy SEAL training after bowl

Utah State quarterback Levi Williams will not return for his senior season in 2024, intending to apply for Navy SEAL training following the Aggies' upcoming bowl game.

Williams revealed in a radio interview with a Salt Lake City radio station on Monday he intends to skip his final year of collegiate eligibility with the goal of becoming a SEAL officer in 2025

"I just want to be in a spot where I can protect this great country where we get to play football with the freedom to do that," Williams told KSL 97.5 FM. "I think this is the best country in the world, so I'd like to keep it that way and protect it as long as I can."

The junior quarterback plans to take a SEAL qualifying fitness test after the season. It is a rigorous test that features a 500-yard swim, maximum push-ups, pull-ups, and curl-ups done in separate two-minute intervals, and a 1.5-mile run. The individual time for either the swim or the run cannot exceed 12 ½ minutes.

Williams said he embraces the challenge and is eager to follow in the footsteps of parents and grandparents who served in the military before him. Being a SEAL specifically appeals to him because of the chance to be in a team-oriented environment.

"What I love about their ethos and their motto is that no one guy is better than the other," Williams said. "It takes all of them to complete a mission."

One of those stories I think just needs to be seen by others.

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Good read

[JVShocker]

The junior quarterback plans to take a SEAL qualifying fitness test after the season. It is a rigorous test that features a 500-yard swim, maximum push-ups, pull-ups, and curl-ups done in separate two-minute intervals, and a 1.5-mile run. The individual time for either the swim or the run cannot exceed 12 ½ minutes


Just ignore this everyone, I'm just a happy, proud father of two children who wants to share. And being so close to swimming as a parent can be and seeing all the health benefits, I can't recommend enough that parents of children teach their children to swim, and consider swimming as a sport. I don't even want to share the statistics or stories of children who suffer fatal and non fatal drowning accidents every year (and hispanic and african american children account for 4-6 times the number of accidental swimming deaths).

I helped train my son and coached him in numerous sports over the years (basketball, soccer and swimming) and he was like an ironman (okay, iron kid) at a young age. He was always athletic enough to play basketball or (really) soccer, but swimming was where he excelled. He also loved running (and I have always loved cycling) so I entered him in a triathlon when he was 13 or 14 and he won the overall race (against entirely young adult and obviously more mature athletes.) I remember when got out of the water after the 500 yard swim (first swimmer) soaking wet and was still trying to figure out how to dry his feet off so he could get socks and shoes on his feet while other swimmers were transitioning to the bike. LOL. It was surreal. He still caught and passed them on the bike and run. In high school, they had swim meets once, sometimes twice a week, city league meets, invitationals to swim meets in the Kansas City area against the top teams in the state, Pro-Am meets and State Championship meets (which they won). He was their go to kid for the distance events (freestyle) and I imagine he raced the 500 freestyle 100 times in 4 years of high school swimming (and each race at or under 5 minutes I think). It was a game for him and he still holds the school record. He was gifted naturally, and excelled at athletics.

My daughter was not so gifted. She tried sports but being quite a bit shorter she never found a soccer, volleyball or basketball type of sport where she was gifted or able to be a game changer (I don't know how many times I had to tell her that art is not a sport). She found swimming as well and and she loved the water. She had to work hard at it but after a year or so discovered she was good at it. She continued to progress - especially in distance events. She was on the All City team from her freshman year through her senior year. Not nearly as fast as our son, she still swam a lot of Individual Medley races (Butterfly, Back, Breast, Freestyle) and probably (50-75) 500 Yard Freestyle races over four years in high school. She saved her best for the last two races at State Finals meet where she raced the 500 Freestyle twice at a time of about 5 minutes and 20 seconds each. She didn't win the event obviously, but she helped the team score a lot of needed points and they, too, won a State Championship.

So if you are reading this, please consider a Christmas gift for your children or grandchildren of swimming lessons at a city run pool, YMCA, or even a private swimming club. They teach swimming year round. You may help save a life and the benefits and joy you receive from it can extend beyond anything you ever imagined.