Alexander Muller suffered a stroke when he was 4.
But he never let that get in the way of enjoying sports.
The Shepard sophomore joined the Astros swimming and diving team this season and picked up a pair of third-place medals in the Athletes With Disabilities division of the IHSA state meet on March 1 at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
Muller said when he joined the swim team, he never imagined that he would win a state medal.
He said that after the stroke, he was told he would be able to play sports, so he was happy about that.
“I’ve had great support around me and people have helped me out,” Muller said.
Muller took third place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 43.94 seconds and tied for third in the 100 free with Niles Notre Dame’s Sean Kristufeck as both touched the pads at 1:28.32.
“He has shown tremendous growth,” Shepard boys swimming coach Taylor Burmeister said of Muller. “He’s never been on a swim team before. He was friends with a lot of the guys on the team and they dragged him to tryouts.
“He works hard every single day. I think he’s one of the key members of the team in terms of heart and soul. Everyone loves to hang out with Alex. He’s funny. They mess around in the locker room and he’s part of the shenanigans.”
Shepard girls coach Kewan Clark, who assists with the boys team, was also on hand for Muller’s big day.
“He’s great at practice,” Clark said. “He’s tough and he’s resilient. He does the same workouts as everyone else. He’s great to have on the team. He always comes in with jokes. I love him.”
Two other athletes from the area made it to the second day as Oak Lawn senior Cohen Laylo was 11th in diving with 327.15. Lyons junior Matthew Ferguson placed eighth in the 500 free with a 4:37.32.