Grant House Has Overcome Heart Issue, Still Racing in Pursuit of Unfulfilled Potential
The reasons that Grant House has become a well-known name in athletics have very little to do with his career in the pool and rather his involvement with a lawsuit expected to forever change the landscape of college sports. As a swimmer, House was a key force behind Arizona State University’s ascension from also-ran to national powerhouse. He had exhausted his eligibility by the time the Sun Devils closed the deal on an NCAA team title in 2024, but he swam on the national runnerup squad in 2023. House finished top-three on five occasions at the NCAA Championships, twice in the 200 free and three times on relays.
House has also represented the U.S. in international competition, although never as part of the top-level senior team. His results at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials were the best of his career: sixth in the 200 IM, 10th in the 200 free — 12-hundredths behind a tie for eight place — and 19th in the 100 free. Now 26, House has reached the point where most in his position would have left elite swimming to focus on their next endeavors, but a sense of unfulfilled potential inspired House to return to Tempe and continue training.
“There’s many things in the sport that I haven’t accomplished that I still believe I’m capable of,” House said. “My times and my events have continued to improve. And as long as that’s happening and I find joy the sport, which I’m finding more than ever, I don’t see a reason why to (stop) if I’m still excelling at some of the higher ends of the sport. It’s uplifting to have the highest world ranking I ever have, and to see myself continue to improve in the sport.”
Grant House — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Indeed, House currently ranks 13th in the world in the 200 IM after recording a time of 1:58.22, one hundredth off his career best, at the Sacramento stop of USA Swimming’s Pro Series earlier this year. Only two Americans, Shaine Casas and Carson Foster, currently sit ahead of him. House did achieve his lifetime best in the 100 free this season, with a 48.50 at the Westmont, Ill., stop of the series. The event widely considered his best is the 200 free, and House swam a mark of 1:46.54 on his way to a win at last year’s Speedo Summer Championships.
He has achieved his strong results in early 2025 despite a lower training quantity than in years. House swam only single practices in the fall, and the early months of 2025 only included training activities of any kind four days per week. Those changes came about after House underwent a heart procedure to regulate atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), which House believed developed in part as a result of the stresses of his lawsuit against the NCAA and training for Trials. The operation was quick and successful, and it brought House a sense of gratitude and perspective.
“Reintroduction into any level of activity or physical movement was very gradual, very marginal, very step-by-step, and very humbling, very eye-opening and perspective-shifting of what mattered most,” House said. “That’s when I started valuing my health, wellbeing and my rest a lot more. When you have a heart procedure at 26, it kind of punches you in the face, so you need to make some changes here and there.”
As House has considered what changes will help him both maintain his health and maximize his performances in the pool, he decided to take control of his own strength and power program, but he has continued training with Herbie Behm, the second-year Sun Devils head coach but House’s personal coach for more than five years. House explained that Behm “takes into consideration not just what my times on the pool say, but how I really respond, my emotions mental response to hard things and easy things, and what sets me best up as Grant House the human to succeed.”
House added, “I think he just does such a great job of promoting ownership, promoting autonomy and promoting you to take ownership and be the captain of your own career and your athleticism, your events, your swimming and your process and performance.”
If House can repeat his 2024 best in the 200 free at the upcoming U.S. Nationals, he will be in the mix of contenders to qualify for this year’s World Championships team for the 800 free relay. Barring a significant time drop, American depth in the 100 free might block his path to the to global level in that event while House’s improvement in the medley races give him a shot at securing a central lane in the final at U.S. Nationals.
But qualifying for a team or securing a particular medal will not be the standard on which House judges this latter chapter of his swimming career. As he has aged and found additional perspective in the sport, the focuses have become much more individualized.
“I’ve been able to obtain a lot of different levels in the sport, and I’d like to represent Team USA on the World Championship team, if possible, the Olympic team as well. And to ultimately, I think, reach a level of improvement that I just feel like I’m actualizing my greatest sense of potential. I think intuitively, every great athlete knows maybe when that moment comes, but I don’t feel like I’ve really reached the pinnacle of what I’m capable of,” House said.
“Making a team or not making a team doesn’t define me anymore. Being the best version of myself does.”
