Jorge Iga failed 82 times, but that did not stop him from being a success story!

Ever since he was a kid in Mexico, Jorge Iga’s dream was to be an Olympic swimmer. He sacrificed a lot in pursuit of that goal. Iga also failed, and failed a lot. He got on the block 82 times with the goal of qualifying for the Olympics. Iga failed every time, but it did not stop him from getting on the block for an 83rd time.

That 83rd time on the final day of 2024 Olympic qualifying, Jorge Iga finally made the cut. Every step of the way he was not sure he could do it, telling me “Even on the 83rd attempt I doubted myself but it did not stop me from giving my best effort”. While the self belief was shaky at times, the effort never was.

This experience has shaped who Iga is as a person. When you fail this many times, it forces you to become a process driven person. Someone who is driven by results would have given up by the 83rd try. Iga told me something that was very wise, saying “One of the things I have learned along the way is to not expect to be at your best every day but to give your best effort every day”.

Both as a swimmer and as a coach, Iga lives by the motto of giving your best even when you don’t have your best. In an individualized sport such as swimming, burn out can become an issue. Iga feels like giving your best effort everyday is actually a way to stop that burn out. Becoming obsessed with the results over all else is the easiest way to burn out. However, it is easier to stay the course if you try to do your best instead of trying to be the best.

That is all that Jorge Iga expects from himself and others. He told me that “If I failed on that 83rd time, I would have been at peace with myself because I tried everything to fulfill my dream”. This healthy competitive fire is something that he wants to instill into his program at The St. James.

Right now, Iga is running a successful club team with over 200 swimmers. However, he is thinking bigger. Now that he accomplished his Olympic dream, Iga needs a new goal to strive for. That goal is making The St. James swimming academy a hub for elite athletes.

While Iga admitted that they are in the building phase of the program, he remains optimistic that the academy will grow quickly. Swimming is an individual sport, so with the right people that have the right mentality, Iga’s project can grow quickly. As he put it, “The beauty of swimming is that success is up to you and you are not dependent on your teammates. If you are self-driven, committed and want to be a really good swimmer, this is a perfect place for you”.

With The St. James Academy’s elite infrastructure, this is a perfect place for swimmers to thrive. All the swimmers are put in a position to succeed. There is a unique synergy between academics, practice and strength training that optimizes success. It allows swimmers to control when they want to swim, when they want to work out and when they want to focus on their academics.

In many high end swimming institutions, athletes need to get up very early. Iga talked about the dreaded 5 AM wakeups like a veteran swimmer. However, that does not need to happen at The St. James Performance Academy. Athletes swim when their body is at the peak of its potential.

That is something Iga really emphasized. He swims at a very high level, so he knows a thing or two about what works best. Between his Olympic pursuits and his All-American career at the University of Arizona, Iga has all the knowledge he needs in his back pocket.

He has learned from the best over the years. Rick Demont, Sergio Lopez and the father/son duo of Augie and Frank Busch are some of his swimming mentors. Demont is a former world record holder who is a staple of the Arizona swimming scene. The Busch family has coached at the University of Arizona for decades between Augie and Frank. Finally, Lopez is a coach at Virginia Tech, where Iga trained. That time at Virginia Tech is actually what exposed him to The St. James.

Those coaches were the ones who taught Iga how to swim. Obviously, he knew how to actually swim, but these are the people who taught him how to approach a meet and have the right mindset. However, Iga told me you can learn something from every meet you watch. He said “Everybody has something to teach you”.

That desire to learn and build is what made Iga so excited about the academy. While he is still a professional swimmer who won three gold medals at the recent Central American games, Iga knows he can’t compete forever. His goal is to build something that lasts.

Coming from a civil engineering background, Iga is passionate and knowledgeable about building things. The logical thinking and analytical skills he learned as an engineer also translate to building a swimming program. Beyond his love for swimming, this is also what makes him so excited about this opportunity.

Iga has ambitious plans for the next couple of years. He wants to train someone for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. With The St. James facilities, his endless drive and his standing in the swimming world, I would not doubt Jorge Iga.

He knows that “you have to become an Olympian before being an Olympian”. Having failed 82 times before finally accomplishing his dream, there is nobody better equipped to teach these lessons. Iga knows the finer details of swimming but more importantly, he knows what is in swimmers minds and how people click.

However, pumping out Olympians is not his marker for a successful program. He straight up told me that was not his ultimate goal. Instead, he said his goal was this, “I don’t think I will have a successful program based on how many people are sent to the Olympics. I will have a successful program if everybody on the swimming team is satisfied with their careers”.

While everyone is chasing outcomes, Jorge Iga is chasing steady improvement. If you give your best every day, you will get better. It may not be linear progress, but Iga knows that progress will come. He knows this because he lived it. Jorge Iga failed 82 times but kept going. That is the mentality he is trying to instill in The St. James Performance Academy swimming program.