Bastian Swinney, In His Words: Why I Chose Cal

Hey guys! My name is Bastian Swinney, an incoming 6th year center here at Cal. I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota but bounced around in my youth a bit. My little brother, my parents and I have also lived in Puerto Rico and Florida growing up. I’m very fortunate to share the field with my brother right now. He’s a wide receiver on our team. It’s truly a blessing to be able to share the field with family. Brotherhood means the world to me. 

My dad is a hair stylist and my mom is a Pilates instructor. Both were athletes until the end of their high school days. My dad played basketball and football while my mom swam, cheered, and was a gymnast. Both my parents have had a tremendous impact on my athletic career, and I owe them the world for helping put me in the position I am in today. 

Sports has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Playing soccer when I was tiny, then I remember tee ball, then came basketball and football. Those two I stuck with, first falling in love with basketball (I had hoop dreams!). But after I starting growing into my body, I started to love football more and more until it became who I was and I dedicated myself to the passion.

My life revolved around basketball and football from the fourth grade onward. At first, I was a defensive lineman, a 3-technique. I loved chasing down the ball carrier, pushing the line of scrimmage back, goal line stands. I played offensive line as well, but it wasn’t my end goal at the time. Every big kid loved it. You just used your size to wreck people.

As I got older, I grew and became  more coordinated, I was asked to focus mainly on offensive line, playing tackle primarily. I focused on being a tackle, but would play guard from time to time as a sophomore on the varsity team at Edina High School. I officially moved to play guard my senior year. Offensive line is a game within a game, and that’s what made me fall in love with it. There’s the chemistry game and the unity of the 5 on the field is just as important as making the correct ID’s. I could go on and on but my point is there’s layers to offensive line play that other positions do not have. 

I came to Berkeley in January of 2021 as an early enrollee, toward the back half of COVID. The early months were hard. Being so far from home, you kinda just get thrown into the fire, but I say that’s the best way to learn. You catch on quick to how things are done by watching examples. I had amazing examples in Mike Saffell and Matthew Cindric, both whom I owe a lot to my development as a center. They set the standard for how to operate on and off the field, so I did my best to follow their lead and learn as much as I could.

I got minutes here and there early on, but ended up redshirting my freshman year. Then comes my sophomore year, I get an injury and forced to medically redshirt for the duration of the season. That year was promising, I was excited to be able to finally contribute more to the team, but I took that time to build my not only my body, but my mind as well. The next year, we switched our offensive staff.

I always have believed in this institution and have had faith in the program, so I stayed true and worked my way back from square one with a new OL coach. That season I ended up splitting reps at guard, but made strides in ability. The following season, I played all over the interior, and started most games. I was hitting my stride! Getting better and growing more. Then, I played center again last season, helping out on special teams as well. Contributing to the wins that season felt amazing, in big time moments.

This brings us to now, and with the entrance of Tosh, and I couldn’t be happier. There is an energy within this building that hasn’t been felt in years, and a high standard is held. I’m excited to fight for you all this season and I can’t wait to see you at Memorial Stadium!!!!!!

GO BEARS!!!!

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