Those are Hugh Harrison’s words.

For the most decorated swimmer in the history of Warren Area High School (and only through his junior year, mind you), Harrison will realize his dream of swimming for an NCAA Division I program — Boston University beginning this fall. It just took a little longer than the now 19-year-old might have liked.

Shoulder surgery forced Harrison to miss his senior Warren Area High School swim season. Before that, he won three straight District 10 championships in the 200-yard individual medley and was a two-time PIAA medalist, including a silver in the 100 backstroke. Harrison holds the Warren record in nearly every individual boys event, and he broke the District 10 2A meet record in winning the 200 individual medley in 1:53.38 at S.P.I.R.E. Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

“Taking a year out of the pool hurt my confidence and made me feel behind, which in a sense I was,” said Harrison, who then opted for Mercersburg Academy (Mercersburg, Pa.) for post-high school graduates.

Submitted photo Hugh Harrison, the most decorated swimmer in the history of Warren Area High School, will be swimming for Boston University beginning this fall.

Benefits of a postgraduate, according to Harrison (who first got the idea from Amy Morrison and Bill Hill): You don’t lose a year of NCAA eligibility, you can compete with the team because it does not affiliate with PIAA, and you get a year to prepare yourself, both academically and athletically, at a high-level program before going to college.

“At the start of the year, I second-guessed myself, thinking I’m too late and wouldn’t get recruited and doubted my ability to get back to my pre-surgery shape,” said Harrison, “but I have some pretty amazing coaches at Mercersburg who reassured me of my ability and helped me get recruited.”

A visit to Boston didn’t hurt. The Harrisons are big Boston sports fans.

“(My father, Derek Harrison, has) never been more excited,” Hugh said. “He might even try to move in with me.”

Seriously, though, Harrison has been striving to reach the next level ever since he finished last at the PIAA championships as a high school freshman.

“I’ve always looked at swimming as something I strive to get better in, but after freshman year at states — when I got dead last — I told myself I was going to swim Division I,” said Harrison. “I always thought I would go to a ‘Power 5’ conference school, too, which didn’t work out mostly due to late recruiting because of my injury. But in the Division I level, everyone is on the same playing field, so I can set my goals just as high as the guys at Texas.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me to compete at the Division I level, especially at such a prestigious school like BU,” said Harrison. “This year has been great, but bumpy. Coming back from shoulder surgery as a swimmer wasn’t easy, because swimming is a predominantly shoulder-driven sport. At the start, I felt good, but not very mobile. My shoulder felt tight and inflexible. As I worked with the athletic trainers at Mercersburg and swim coaches, I started to feel better and more natural in the water again. But with that, came pain. I’ve had some tendinitis problems during my recovery, but overall my shoulder is completely stable, and that was the goal of the surgery. Physically, I think I’m in the best shape of my life. Mentally, I think I have a lot of room to improve.

“Going into my post-graduate year, I knew I wanted to focus on making the most out of this opportunity and finding a great school and team to swim for, so I reached out to Boston University – with the help of my coach, Matt Hurst, who has numerous amounts of connections in the college swimming world, and they took a chance on me,” said Harrison. “Head Coach James Sica at BU showed a lot of interest in me and seemed to appreciate my journey more than other coaches I was talking to. After I proved I was back in shape and swimming personal-best times early in my gap year, which was around a year after my surgery, I was offered a spot on the team for the fall of 2025. Using my short amount of time at Mercersburg to its fullest potential was crucial in making sure I am ready for collegiate-level swimming. The great training, rehab, and education offered at Mercersburg reinforced my interest in college swimming. My season at Mercersburg is finished; it has been great, and I’ve made a lot of new friends, but we aren’t done. I’ll be training for the remainder of the school year (end of May) to get ready for swim meets this spring and summer, then I will go to Boston in the fall and begin my season in September.”

Coach Sica does indeed appreciate Harrison’s journey.

“From our first conversation, it was clear Hugh could be a strong fit for Boston University and our team,” said Sica. “One of his first questions to us was, ‘How can I be a valuable member of the team?’ and I think that epitomizes what we look for in prospective student-athletes to add to our team. From the outside, swimming may look like an individual sport, but in college, and particularly at BU, it is all about the team.

“We were also impressed with Hugh’s resiliency,” added Sica. “His college search process was significantly impacted by an injury his senior year that required surgery, prevented him from competing, and ultimately led him to take a gap year. While many would see that as a potential career-ending scenario, after chatting with Hugh and Matt Hurst, his coach at Mercersburg, it was clear that Hugh had taken a pretty significant challenge and used it as an opportunity to grow.

“Finally, Hugh seemed to understand that he would be in Boston for more than just swimming,” said Sica. “He expressed a strong desire to be in a challenging academic environment, and wanted a place where he can thrive both academically and athletically. We view the athletic experience at BU as working in tandem with the academic mission and vision of the institution, and Hugh made it clear that was the kind of environment he was looking for. Hugh is mature, thoughtful, and team-oriented, and those are all qualities we look for in recruits at Boston University and why we feel confident he will be a contributor here.”

Harrison is from a talented and driven family with his mom and dad both athletes; Nikki (Bialas) Harrison is a member of the Warren County Sports Hall of Fame who scored 1,420 career points for Warren’s girls basketball team and later played at Division I Cornell University. Derek is currently running all over Warren County and he played hockey in high school. He’s obviously a Boston Bruins fan. Then there was swimming, soccer, swimming, track, tennis, swimming, golf, football, cross country, swimming, baseball, basketball, swimming, softball, and swimming for the kids, Max, Hugh, and Lucy. It has all contributed to who Hugh is.

“My goals are still the same. Keep working hard and dropping time, but I have added a few to keep in mind, hoping to help Boston University succeed,” said Hugh. “I’ve excelled in sprint freestyle events more than ever this year and I plan to continue with those events along with individual medley races throughout college. My overall goal at BU is to use the opportunity presented to me to study hard, train hard, and compete to the best of my ability, all while staying healthy, of course.”