Bill Senese is terrified of being in water, but that doesn’t stop him from finding success in the pool.

Motivated by his fear the senior has broken at least one of Eastern’s men’s swimming records every year he’s been here. It’s in his blood and he knows swimming will always be a part of his life and may play a big role in his future.

Senese spoke to staff reporter Adam Tedder on Tuesday about his early swimming career, his fear of water and the DC comic-book hero Aquaman.

How did you get involved with swimming, Bill?

Well, I first tried out for a swim team in the first grade with the Hickory Willow Dolphins, a club team in my area and I was actually cut from the team in first grade. So in second grade I came back and tried out for the team again and that year I really had a passion for it and wanted to make sure I went out and showed everyone that I was worthy and I could make the team and I did. And since then I’ve been swimming every year.

Do you think that you’ll swim after college?

Well, like I said, I’ve been swimming every year since the second grade so I think I might take a year off. But after that I’ll probably be looking to do something again. Probably get in to do some masters and senior swimming.

What is your favorite event to swim at Eastern?

My favorite event to swim would be the 50-yard freestyle. It’s been my best event here since I’ve been a freshman and it’s definitely the event I’ve seen the most successes in. And it’s a short even, which I really like so I can get out there, sprint and get my job done.

Have you set any records while being at Eastern?

Yeah, actually – every year that I’ve been here I’ve broken at least one record. My freshman year I broke the 100-yard back and the 200-yard back and then my sophomore year I broke the 50-yard free, the 100-yard free and I re-broke the 100-yard and 200 yard back. Then last year I re-broke the 50 free and the 100 back.

What is your favorite food to eat?

I love hamburgers. I could eat a hamburger for lunch and dinner every day of the week for the rest of my life.

And who do you consider your heroes?

My grandpa is definitely one of my heroes. He swam when he was in high school and college. He has always been a big influence on me with swimming and I’ve always kind of looked up to him.

For the average person, they probably don’t know or understand scoring in swimming, so could you explain that and also your feelings towards the scoring system?

Yeah, well, to be honest, it still confuses me after all of these years. The way the scoring system works is that first place would get nine points, second place gets five points, third place gets four, fourth place gets three and fifth place gets two.

So I think I got those scores right, I could be wrong, like I said. But the way it works is if you get first place and the other team gets second, third and fourth, you’ll still get more points than they do, so if you win the race, you’ll win the race.

When you go home on breaks, where do you swim, practice and train at?

This last break I swam at Lincoln-Way Central High School, which is right by where I live now in New Lennox. But over Christmas Break I plan on swimming with Hickory Willow because I coached for them last summer and they’ve got a good coach there and he’s been nice enough to let me come back and swim there with them for the winter break.

So you coached with them. Do you possibly see that in your future?

Oh, most definitely. I’m hoping to be a coach in the future and I’m looking to coach a team similar to Hickory Willow, hopefully in the Chicago area. I had a lot of fun as an assistant coach and right now I’m a physical education major with a concentration in sports management, so I’m really hoping to make my future with coaching.

So what are your feelings on head coach Ray Padovan?

I think Ray Padovan has been a good influence on me. I’ve swam all my lifetime. (The) bests since I’ve been here at Eastern swimming underneath him and his program really gets along with me. I like the way his practices are. I like the amount of practices we do each week.

Did he change you as a swimmer?

I don’t think he changed much. I think he helped me evolve as a swimmer rather than changing the way that I swam. He just kind of helped increase what I was already doing.

When you leave Eastern, which swimmers do you think will step up to the challenge?

I think we can look to sophomore Kevin Boyle to step up in the sprint freestyle and also freshman Matt Crittenden to step up for the sprint freestyle. And we’ve got Brent Noble who is a real good Im’er (individual medley), Patrick LeNeave is a very good butterflyer IM’er. We definitely got some good divers that are going to step up with Joe Laird.

Do you think you’ve been a good influence while you’ve been here at Eastern?

I’d like to think that I’ve been a good influence on them. I don’t really know. I hope I’ve done my best to show them how to swim well and to put your best effort in to every meet and if nothing else, I’ve shown them to go into meets with confidence.

What are your feelings on Aquaman?

Aquaman? He’s really cool. I mean, I really have to respect a superhero whose power is the ability to swim. If I had his powers, I’d like to think I’d be a much better swimmer. I mean, the ability to stay underneath water for an extended period without having to breathe would be awesome. And I like sea animals like fish, dolphins and such.

So have you ever swam in the ocean before?

I have swam in the ocean and this is going to sound pretty weird, but I’m actually terrified of open water. My greatest fear is drowning which is probably funny for a person who is a swimmer, lifeguard and coach. But I’m terrified of water that I can’t see the bottom of.

So are you motivated by your fear, you think?

I think so. I think a lot of my swimming has to do with the fact that if I don’t swim fast enough I won’t make it to the wall possibly.