Throughout his childhood, Zach played just about every sport but concentrated on swimming and soccer. After nine years of soccer, he decided to try water polo and quickly became a starter on his high school varsity team. After water polo season was over he swam for Aqua Sol and lifeguarded in the summer. Three days before the start of his junior year at Ponderosa High School Zach dove into a lake and hit his head on the bottom. He broke his C-7 vertebrae resulting in three months of recovering in the hospital. When he returned to school he served his term as Junior Class President while maintaining a 4.16-grade point average and completing his Eagle Scout rank in Boy Scouts. As part of his physical therapy, Zach began to swim again and eight months after his injury competed in and won the 50-meter backstroke at the 2013 Paralympic National Championships. During his senior year, he returned to the water polo team, an extremely difficult proposition without the use of one’s legs. Being part of a team can be as rewarding as winning and Zach plans to continue training and competing while continuing his education at USC as a part of the Swim With Mike family.