By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information
 
SEATTLE – Versatility… thy name is Travis. 
 
Travis Swallow, to be precise. And if you're looking for one specific place to find him, you'd better look fast. 
 
Whether it's on the soccer field or in the business world, the studious Seattle Pacific senior could be just about anywhere at any given moment. 
 
Center midfield. Left back. Right back. 
 
Gold mining, 3D printing. Science equipment manufacturing. 
 
 

Everyone likes having some options in their lives. 
 
Swallow takes that concept to a whole 'nother level. 
 
"I've had experience at almost every position," he said of his first three years on the pitch with the Falcons. "Bringing that to the field is helpful for a lot of guys. And it helps me talk to the younger players. I can give advice to guys who aren't necessarily in my position." 
 
It's no different back home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where his family has long been involved in business and the community. His father, John Swallow, is president and CEO of the New Jersey Mining Company, is chairman and co-founder of Continuous Composites Inc., the 3D printing firm, and is a principal for McAllister Technical Services, which designs and manufactures science testing equipment. 
 
Travis therefore has been afforded an up-close-and-personal view of many aspects of business, whether it's conversing with miners or helping to develop a website. 
 
"It's cool because the gold mining side is kind of historic – it has always stayed the same," he said. "Then you have the futuristic side of things with the science equipment and 3D printing." 
 
"It's pretty unique." 
 
SOCCER, FIRST AND FOREMOST 
For someone who is so open to engaging in different things, soccer is essentially the only sport that Swallow has embraced from the time he took up the game at age 5. 
 
"I tried basketball and baseball. But I definitely didn't have the build for basketball, and baseball was a little too slow for me," he said. "For me, it was always soccer. My dad was into track (as a sprinter). So there's a part of me that wonders if I would have been good at track." 
 
At Lake City High School in Coeur d'Alene, Swallow made the All-Inland Empire League first team, and was an Idaho All-State second-team selection as a midfielder during his senior season in 2016. 
 
Swallow was part of a talented recruiting class for SPU head coach Mark Collings. That class included Titus Grant, Alex Mejia, and Sam Malloch, who together as juniors accounted for 15 of the team's 30 goals last fall. 
 
"A friend of mine over in the (Coeur d'Alene) area called and said, 'I've got this kid over here who is a fantastic kid and a really good player.' We took a look, and it was pretty obvious from the beginning what we had on our hands," Collings said. "The nice thing about Travis is he's a competitor, and so you can put him anywhere and he's going to figure out how to compete at a really high level at that position." 
 
Swallow saw spot playing time at forward as a freshman, scoring one goal in 11 games, with three starts. By his sophomore year, he was a regular starter at center midfield, answering the opening whistle in 16 of the 18 games. He logged 1,295 minutes, the third-highest total on the team, contributing two goals and one assist. 
 
Last fall, he switched to left back, also spent some time at right back. Swallow was on the pitch for all but 45 of the team's 1,573 minutes of action, starting all 17 games. 
 
"Initially, it was Mark's idea, but he was really good about making sure I wanted to do it – and I did," Swallow said of his move to defender. "We made that decision together. He was really good about working with me and giving me time to learn it, and it went really well. It was just kind of what the team needed at the time." 
 
That Swallow became as solid in the back as he was elsewhere on the field came as no surprise to Collings. 
 
"He's got a great base athletic ability that allows him to defend, and his engine is really, really good," Collings said. "He can get up and down, and he can battle through the middle of the park if needed. … The way he operates is if he doesn't understand something or isn't sure, he's going to work at it until he is sure." 
 
Added senior defender and roommate Nik Reierson, "As the season goes on, guys go down with injuries or other things come up. When you have someone that versatile who can go into any role and perform at a high level, it adds another dimension." 
 
GIVING IT ANOTHER YEAR 
Although no fall sports are on the calendar this year because of the coronavirus, a reasonably good possibility exists for a spring season. If or when that happens, Swallow is looking forward to moving forward. 
 
"I'm kind of itching to get further up the field again," he said. "I've always played center mid, and I'm super excited to get back to that." 

 

The potential chance to play in the spring would, in essence, be a bonus year for Swallow, his teammates, and other fall sports athletes who have been sidelined. (At Seattle Pacific, that includes volleyball, cross country, and women's soccer.) The NCAA has declared that all fall athletes will retain this year of eligibility, even if they play in the spring. They then can use that year in the autumn of 2021. 

Swallow, with his near-perfect 3.98 grade-point average and his multiple avenues into business back home, certainly could take his degrees in accounting and business / finance at the end of this academic year and move on to the next phase of his life. 
 
In fact, the two-time Academic All-America Award recipient thought long and hard about doing exactly that. 
 
But after sitting for an interview earlier this week, he was going to head into Collings' office right next door to share some news that his coach certainly was hoping to hear. 
 
"I think I was the last senior on the fence about coming back," he said. "I've done a lot of self-reflecting, talking to my parents and talking to my family. I've decided to come back – and that decision is about to be made (official) in another 20 minutes or so." 
 
Even without games on the schedule in September and October, Swallow and the Falcons are at least back to practicing again. It's in groups of no larger than five, and that limits how much can be done. But it's still soccer practice. 
 
"It's just nice to be back with the team and seeing everybody and being able to pass the ball to a person instead of hitting it against a wall," Swallow said. "All of us, we just want to play a game and get back to 11-v-11, too. Groups of five is great, but it's not the same playing against the same five guys every day." 
 
When games and full-on practices do resume, he said it'll be a much more confident Travis Swallow out there. 
 
"Freshman year coming in, coming from north Idaho, I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I was confident, but not like now – the nerves are gone. I'm just ready to get after it. I've definitely grown as sort of a leader, and I think our senior class as a whole has grown quite a bit as leaders." 
 
Reierson agreed, saying, "Travis is a really hard worker, he's dedicated and committed to the program, and it shows in his day-to-day actions. With Trav, you know what you're going to get every day." 
 
LOTS OF WAYS TO GO 
Whenever he takes that last kick, makes that last pass, scores or sets up that last goal – Swallow could go any number of directions. 
 
"Right now, I've done a lot of media and website development for the gold mining company," he said. "I've always been involved going up to the mine with my dad and talking to the miners. I could see myself doing something in the mining space. It's an industry that I think is ready for some younger guys to start taking over. 
 
"And 3D printing is pretty cool. It's more of a start-up, and that's something I've always been interested in," he added. "So I've been helping out there wherever I can." 
 
Swallow also is open to the idea of doing something on his own. 
 
"For me, I've always been pretty involved in investing – public companies, stock trading, that sort of thing," Swallow said. "If I started something, it could be an investment fund, kind of focused on not only local, private companies in Coeur d'Alene, but also some public companies." 
 
Small wonder that Swallow's ideal dinner guest would be none other than investor / philanthropist Warren Buffet, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and sometimes referred to as "the Oracle of Omaha." 
 
"In the midst of the election and coronavirus, these are kind of unprecedented times in the stock market perspective," Swallow said. "Really, I'd just want to get his thoughts." 
 
As is the case for so many other SPU students, all of Swallow's classes this fall are being taught online. He says he understands the necessity of doing it that way, just as he understands the necessity of practicing in small groups. Swallow acknowledges, however, that he's not a fan of either one. 
 
"I'd just love to be back in the classroom, and be able to get back in the weight room and get back on a regular schedule and train as a full team," he said. "I like sitting in class and being able to watch professors go through problems and talk to you in person. I don't get that over Zoom, even though I know it's what we have to do right now." 
 
Someday, Swallow might have kids of his own with whom he can share some stories about what it was like to live through this most unusual year of 2020. 
 
"There's a lot I'd probably leave out," he said of what such a conversation might be like. "But I think there's a lot to learn from it." 
 
In Swallow's case, that learning could come from so many different perspectives, whether it's talking to gold miners … developing a website … picking up some behind-the-scenes finer points of 3D printing and science equipment manufacturing … or even playing soccer. 
 
That's one of the benefits of being versatile. 
 
And when it comes to versatility … 
 
… thy name is Travis.