ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

As he leaves his home in Corona de ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, he heads into town for his 5 a.m. swim practice at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center on the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ campus.

Hess, a competitive swimmer, began his swimming journey when he was just 2 years old. But as he got older, he fell in love with swimming as a sport and it became a lifestyle for him.

He began swimming competitively when he was 7. Now, at 18 years old, Hess has all of the traits of a swimmer — physical strength, discipline and the eagerness to constantly improve.

And aside from the scar on his back, you would never be able to tell that Hess is missing a part of his right lung.

“I gotta be honest, I don’t think of it that much when I swim, I don’t really think of myself differently than I do with the person to my left and right,� he said. “Because, you know I’m missing a lobe but why does that make me any less of an athlete than someone else or any more of an athlete? So, that’s kind of the way I look at it. But, I also look at it in a way of just being grateful. I am not only grateful to have had the surgery at a time when I needed it, but also to be able to compete.�

Before Hess was even born, he was diagnosed with a congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, also known as CCAM, on his right lung. His doctors kept a close eye on it during his mom Donna’s pregnancy, often scheduling two to three ultrasounds a week.

If a CCAM malformation continued to grow, there was a rare chance it could become cancerous.

At 6 months old, Hess’ doctors decided that surgery to remove the bottom lobe from his right lung was the best treatment option.

“It was a really difficult time,� Donna said. “We also didn’t realize that at the time, we do now, but we didn’t at the time, that the developmental delays that he was having were probably because of the surgery. It was all new to us. So, it’s more interesting now to look back on it than to actually experience it. At the time, the morning of the surgery, of course, I was crying, I was upset. I didn’t want to give him up, that kind of thing, but, now looking back on it, it really hits harder.�

The hours-long surgery was successful, but as Donna mentioned, Robert was left with a plethora of side effects and a long recovery. Donna described Robert at that time as a “typical 9-month-old kid� who was beginning to hold himself up, babble and even push around toys with wheels.

But after the surgery, Hess didn’t babble for nearly two years. He didn’t start fully walking until around 5 years old.

“He just really became introverted and introspective and so he started missing a lot of those pediatric developmental marks, like fine motor skills. Just a lot of things were set back,� Donna said. “The surgery had a huge developmental setback on him.�

That’s where swimming comes in. Initially, swimming was used as a form of therapy to help Hess develop his proprioception and his body, his mom says.

“It was just a natural progression,� Donna said. “He was literally learning to swim, learning the stroke and then all of a sudden we go to our first meet and he just killed it. He absolutely loved it. He went out there and competed and did really well. So, it was exciting, but it was also kind of terrifying, too.�

Now, Hess spends an average of 20 to 25 hours per week swimming equivalent to around eight practices a week. During his busiest day of the week, Tuesday, he begins and ends his day with swim practice. All of that time in the pool is paying off as Hess is one of the few swimmers from the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ area ranked in the 2025 recruiting class. He currently sits at No. 64, according to .

In between those practices, Hess is at Pima Community College full-time, working toward an associate degree as a part of the Vail Early College program that partners with local Vail high schools, including Cienega.

Hess will graduate with his associate degree from PCC two days before he graduates from Cienega.

Throughout his high school career, Hess has taken college-level and AP courses, which have earned him a 4.8 GPA.

To him, school and community are just as important as swimming. Hess is a member of the National Honor Society, in ROTC and treasurer of the school’s Helping Hands club, which conducts community-centered projects.

When he’s not swimming competitively or doing homework late at night after practice, Hess enjoys giving swimming lessons to those who may be unable to afford them.

“One of the things that I try to do is give back,� Hess said. “I’m grateful to be alive because that was such a difficult surgery, such a life-threatening one. And on top of that, to be able to swim at the level that I do so, to be able to give back to people in all kinds of ways and teaching those lessons, to being a leader in my high school swim team, even my club team, it’s just one of the most important things that I could do on a day-to-day basis.�

Back in the pool, Hess holds the Cienega school record for the 100 breaststroke. Over the past couple of years, he has worked directly with his mom, who is now the head swim coach at the school.

The two have a close-knit relationship and rightfully so as they have been through some of life’s toughest challenges together from the very beginning.

After Hess graduates from Pima and Cienega next year, he plans to study history in college. While he hasn’t committed to a university yet, some of his options include West Point (his top choice), Louisiana State University (located where his mom’s family is from), the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and UC San Diego.

He wants to continue swimming for as long as he can, he says.

“He’s always been a very tender-hearted and very special person,� Donna said. “He’s a very special kid, but the way he’s just grown into it and owned it for himself (is something special) and he’s a very easy-going kid. … Everything about Robert is about giving of himself to others and I just love the fact that I can see how far he’s come in 18 years. And I can imagine the next 18 years already because I can see his personality and I can see the growth that he made over the last 18 years. I can just imagine the growth that he’s going to (have next) because if he is given the opportunities that can come his way, he’s going to make the most of them because he’s just that kind of kid.�