With all seriousness, at just 14 years old, Daniel Alejandro Franco is just getting started; he maintains a perfect GPA, is one of the top runners in South Texas, and in the midst of all this, he enjoys his PS5 and the cooking of his beloved grandmother, Nilka Franka, when he visits her in Austin.
But what truly makes Daniel stand out isn’t just his discipline it’s the deeper motivation behind everything he does. “I’m not just running laps,” he says. “I’m running with a purpose. I was born in Aruba. That will always be my home. One day, I want to represent it on the Olympic stage.”
In 2017, Daniel moved to Houston with his mom. He was just six years old. From Aruba’s calm seas to the fast-paced rhythm of Texas it was a big change. But even before turning seven, he had already joined a swim club. He tried basketball, flag football, and even played as a defensive lineman in his 8th-grade football team. But in the end, deciding which sport to stick with wasn’t hard. “Football was a lot of fun,” he says, “but it’s in the pool that I feel like myself.”
In 2023, Daniel and his mom moved to Austin. That’s when they discovered the Waterloo Swim Team, where he began training under Coach Brooke. “It was tough at first,” Daniel says. “But I like working hard. I like getting better.” In 2024, he was named MVP for the short course season, and now he’s ranked among the Top 20 swimmers in South Texas in his age group (13–14 years old), a very competitive category. According to Daniel, the mix of high expectations and trust from his coach is what helped him level up. “Coach Brooke expects a lot from us. But she also believes in us.”
Even though he lives in Texas, Daniel’s heart remains in Aruba. For three consecutive years, he has returned to Aruba to train and compete with Giants Swim Club under Coach Jordy. At the Aruban Championships, he brought home medals for Aruba.
This year, for the first time, he stayed in Texas to try out for his high school swim team. Out of 75 students, Daniel made the cut. Now, he’s training for the STAGS Long Course Championship in San Antonio, where he qualified for the TAGS State Competition the highest level for his age group in Texas.
At school, Daniel maintains a 4.0 GPA in advanced classes, showing that he has to work just as hard in the water as he does in his studies.
He gives credit to his mom. “My mom has sacrificed a lot for me. I want everything I do to count for something.”
Outside of school and swimming, Daniel is a regular teenager. He enjoys going on road trips with his mom and his dog Grayson, hanging out with friends, and more than anything, spending time with his beloved grandma Nilka. “When my grandma visits, she cooks the best food. She reminds me of Aruba.”
Daniel doesn’t talk about dreams he talks about plans. Next up: TAGS. Then high school varsity. After that, NCAA. And if God wills, the Olympics.
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