Austin senior Isaac Christopherson grew up in his brother Ian’s footsteps and now he’s going to be following him again.

Isaac has committed to swim at Division III Luther College, which is located in Decorah Iowa, after Ian had spent the last three years swimming for the Norse. Isaac said Ian’s experience weighed heavily on his own choice as he watched Ian initially go to the University of Saint Thomas for swimming, before changing his mind after one year and going to Luther, where the school was a better fit from him.

“I’ve learned so many things from him,” Isaac said of Ian. “He was a huge role model for me. He was the reason why I joined swimming in the first place and he’s the reason I’m in track too. Seeing how he didn’t enjoy college [that first year] really impacted me. It’s such a big decision and you have to look at college for the right reasons.”

Ian finished off his career at Luther by taking seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.94 seconds and he swam on the 200-yard freestyle relay team that took sixth with a time of 1:28.03 at the Liberal Arts Championships in Luther Feb. 14 to Feb. 17. Ian brought a few of his Luther teammates with him to cheer on Isaac at the Section 1A meet this past season and Isaac is looking forward to be headed to Luther.

“I’m really excited to swim there. I met with the team in October and it’s amazing how well I felt like I belonged there,” Isaac said. “It’s such a beautiful location and there’s a lot of prairie land and bluff.”

Isaac swam in five Minnesota Class AA state swimming and diving meets with the Packers and it’s going to be a little tough for him to leave the team he’s had so many great memories with.

“It’s going to be hard to leave a lot of people behind,” Isaac said. “The group is looking to be really great. Logan [Kelly] has stepped up and Rafe [Dolan Peterson] is going to continue to be good. Some of the younger kids should be good as well and I really want to see what the relay looks like next year.”