×

Swaim balances National Guard, SportPlus and new athletic trainer position with Bobcats

T-R photo by Noah Rohlfing National Guard member, SportsPlus employee and Marshalltown High School athletic trainer Nathan Swaim. Photo courtesy of SportsPlus Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy Center.

Nathan Swaim is a busy man.

He is one of many National Guard members in the area who will report for weekend drill duty at the Marshalltown National Guard base this weekend. These drills happen once a month.

He adds this onto his jobs with SportsPlus and with Marshalltown High School.

A Marshalltown native, he didn’t know what he wanted to be until he was 17 years old and in the middle of welding class. Swaim had already joined the National Guard, and he wondered if he would be a welder. However after one semester of the class, he knew it wasn’t going to work out. It wasn’t as interesting as Swaim had initially thought. He thought about possibly switching from the Guard to active duty, but decided against it.

So Swaim started looking online for other career possibilities, and stumbled upon athletic training. With his love for sports and his interest in fitness, he felt it was a perfect fit.

“I kinda had a lot of prayer time, I kinda asked God what his purpose for me was,” Swaim said. “I was always big into fitness and anything related to muscles.”

After two years at Marshalltown Community College, he earned an associate’s degree in athletic training. Swaim was on his way to Cedar Falls, where he spent three years at the University of Northern Iowa completing his degree in Athletic Training.

All the while, Swaim continued to head to Marshalltown one weekend a month for National Guard for drill weekends. He also participated in annual summer training, which he said happens over the course of a couple of weeks.

This wasn’t without its complications, Swaim said.

“There was a lot of times I had to rush through finals week because annual training week was coming up or a big test that I had on Monday, it kind of cut into studying time having it on a drill weekend,” he said. “The Guard was probably one of my best decisions because it shaped me into a better version of myself.”

Once Swaim graduated, he had one place in mind as a future employer: SportsPlus.

Not only was it the premier physical therapy and athletic training place in Marshalltown, but he had a history with the store too. A junior year meniscus tear while playing football for GMG meant he went to SportsPlus for his physical therapy.

The experience was so positive Swaim said it was a goal of his to come back and be a part of the organization.

“I just always knew I wanted to work for SportsPlus,” Swaim said. “So now it’s kind of come full circle.”

Now, back in the place he said has always been home, he is adjusting to the learning curve of handling athletic training duties at Marshalltown on his own. However, Swaim said that without the learning curve he’s endured, he wouldn’t be as comfortable in the job as he finds himself now.

Swaim said continuing to learn is important — particularly in a profession where medicine is always changing and advancing.

“If I ever get to the point where I feel like I know everything, then maybe I need to dive a little deeper on certain topics,” he said. “There’s so many different directions you can go, and there’s so many different facets to what athletic training is.”

——

Contact Noah Rohlfing at 641-753-6611 or nrohlfing@timesrepublican.com

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today