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This story first appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of the Pal-Mac Pulse magazine. Click here to view a digital copy.

1996 Zenobia Yearbook

SEP.10, 2024—1996 Pal-Mac graduate Jeff Robinson graduated nearly 30 years ago, but he’s still making a splash in the history books.

Robinson will soon see his name in the 2024 Section V (Five) Boys Swimming Hall of Fame. The honor will recognize Robinson for his record-breaking career that included many firsts, and many triumphs.

We spoke to Robinson by phone, and he called the nomination “quite an honor.”

He was nominated by current Varsity Boys Swim team coach Jason Stevens. Stevens said he nominated Robinson because he was “the standard” that current and past swimmers have and continue to look up to.

“It didn’t matter what event or what stroke, he was like let’s do it,” Stevens said. “He had that mentality that you must swim the best to be the best.”

A 20+ year Naval veteran, Robinson lives in Virginia but still has family back in Palmyra. He told us he keeps up to date with the current swim program, including any athlete who breaks his records.

And there have been quite a lot of them.

Robinson and his family (provided)

 

FIRST HAS ITS PERKS

Plaque recognizing the first Varsity Boys Swimming team

Robinson’s competitive swim career started in 1993 when he was a part of Pal-Mac’s first-ever Varsity Boys Swim team as a ninth grader. The High School pool was built when he was in seventh grade, and he swam for the modified team.

Before then, he learned the basics as he swam laps in his grandmother’s pool. He also competed in other sports like soccer and track.

He doesn’t have many modified swim memories, but he enjoyed growing as a swimmer alongside his teammates. If you take a trip around the high school pool, you can still see several plaques and framed newspaper clippings of Robinson and his teammates' history-making first season.

“We were just the start of something special,” Robinson said. “Being the first team of anything is a lot of fun.”

And that includes the first time it all clicked for him that he could be pretty good at swimming. But it wasn’t during a win, it was actually in a close loss.

Robinson says he finished just a few seconds behind Mike Fratto, a decorated swimmer from Geneva. The rest was history.

 

HISTORY-DEFINING ERA

Throughout the next two seasons, Robinson notched a decorated career of his own. 

He clinched a Finger Lakes League Championship in his first season and followed that up by taking home multiple League and Sectional Championship wins between 1994-1995. This included a spot in the New York State Championships in ‘94 and ‘95.

Along the way, he set all but one Pal-Mac boys swimming record, along with a couple Finger Lakes League and Section V Class C and D records.

The accomplishments didn’t stop there, as he was named team MVP for three consecutive seasons, and Swimmer of the Meet in 1995.

Many of Robinson’s records stood for several years but were eventually surpassed. Most recently, in 2022 and 2023. He still holds records across multiple events, a testament to his in-the-pool dominance.

Robinson says his coach at the time, Coach Santino, called him “aloof,” a reference to his calm demeanor outside of the pool. He says when he stepped into the water, his mindset changed, saying he “wanted to crush” every opponent.

“[It was] the sudden realization that you’re actually good at something and you want to get better and be competitive and have people know that you’re good at something,” Robinson said.

Coach Stevens, a Newark High School grad, competed against Robinson back in the day and confirmed Robinson’s “cutthroat” mentality. 

“He was out to win,” Stevens said. “I don’t know if I’d call [our meets] battles,  whereas it was just me following him, trying to catch up to him.”

HUNGER FOR GREATNESS, AND PANCAKES

Copy of a newspaper article referencing Robinson's dominance 

Robinson’s competitive drive turned into cross-country drives, as he left the varsity team after his junior season to pursue the club team circuit. He competed under coach Jim Healy.

He says he took the leap because the school team only competed in the Winter, whereas national competitions happened all year round. Right off the bat, Robinson competed in USA Swimming tournaments like the Phillips 66 Nationals.

He also swam for a club team at Monroe Community College (MCC) His travels took him as far as Texas, Michigan, and Connecticut. He credits his parents for their efforts to drive him to every competition, no matter the distance.

Robinson called this period a lonely one, as he was the only swimmer from his team competing on the national stage. 

He recalls the long road trips were fueled by frozen hungry jack pancakes, which were almost always eaten by hand because they’d forget forks.

While frozen flapjacks kept his stomach full, Robinson says he had a different kind of hunger he most needed to feed.

“It was the hunger of wanting to do better than the last time I swam,” Robinson said.

That hunger took him from club swimming to collegiate swimming, as he enrolled at the University of Connecticut (UConn) upon graduating in 1996. As a member of the Huskies swim team, Robinson added his name to the 400 and 200 relay record board and came close to Olympic qualification in 1998.

But then in 1999, he decided to hop out of the pool, and into something else.

A STANDARD OF SERVICE

Robinson's name still appears on the record board at the Pal-Mac pool

Robinson left UConn in 1999 to enter the workforce and figure out what he wanted to do. He would eventually return to campus and graduate in 2002.

His next journey led him to the United States Navy, a fitting choice for a prolific swimmer, though he says he’s only spent about eight weeks on a ship in his years of service.

His naval career deployed him to Hawaii, where he served as a Chinese linguist for 10 years, and underwent computer networking/cyber security training.

He also had stints in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.

And yes, he has stepped back into the pool. He says he gets back in the pool roughly twice a year for the Navy swim test.

“Still at close to my old pace,” Robinson said.

He’ll officially retire from the Navy in August, and in reflecting on his journey, he recognized he accomplished even more firsts.

“First person to go to college on a four-year scholarship and the first in the Navy,” Robinson said. “I had to learn it the hard way. I never sought out anyone, I learned from the Navy, where it’s standard to ask questions and learn.”

In addition to his naval experiences, Robinson credits his coaches and parents for helping him to get where he is now. 

While he may no longer swim competitively, or live in the area, he keeps in contact with past teammates.

He’s also watched as his own children begin to take interest in the pool. His son is just starting, while his daughter hopes to take a swim test soon.

He admits it’s cool to watch, but he’s not pressuring them to follow the same steps he took. He did take time, though, to share some advice for anyone trying to figure out their own journeys.

“Find somebody that has done something that you want to do,” Robinson said. “Follow their path because they’ve done it.”

Section V officials say Robinson and the 2024 HOF class will be formally announced with the 2025 class next year.