So why, when his exhilaration has him bursting at the seams, does he not seem even a bit nervous?
"There isn't as much pressure on me as there is on the number one or number two guys," Szyszko said. "I just know that I want to go fast. I have nothing to lose, I'm going all out."
Szyszko is one of nearly 150 swimmers in each event to qualify for the trials. His qualification times — 1:04.68 in the 100 and 2:20.72 in the 200 — put him on the back end of a list that includes the likes of 2008 Beijing hero Michael Phelps.
With only two American swimmers in each event headed to London, Szyszko has approached the event with a realistic mind-set.
"My chances are slim," he said. The longshot that he is, Szyszko hasn't any goals for the trials, only sure that he wants to zip through the water faster than ever before.
"I'm not going to put a time out there that I definitely want to go," he said. "However I do is how I do. Hopefully it's the best possible time I can achieve."
Regardless of how Omaha unfolds, Szyszko has never had more accolades to fall back on. He is the defending Atlantic 10 champ in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and he is the La Salle recordholder in the 200.
He is a gifted student who recently was re-elected as president of La Salle's Student Athlete Advisory Committee. And according to La Salle head coach Matt Nunnally, Szyszko will return to school in September as the team leader with an experience under his belt that everyone can benefit from.
"He can it bring back and talk to his teammates and hopefully that will excite them to see some of the things you can accomplish if you can work hard," Nunnally said.
One thing Szyszko will concede is that anything can happen in Omaha. Unlike many sports, there are no defenders in swimming. The only thing between him and an Olympic nod will be open water — an aspect of the sport that Nunnally says could level the playing field.
"It's a one-shot deal. On that day if you're on and you do really well you give yourself an opportunity to be right there," he said. "That can work to his advantage."
The arena in Omaha likely will be packed to the brim with 13,000 swimming fanatics — more than enough to generate adrenaline boosts capable of making any competitor dangerous.
"Typically, the people that are darkhorses can do well," Szyszko said. "Even [at La Salle], when you get up on that block, you can just feel in your body the whole building shaking. You get that tunnel vision."
Come Monday, that shaking probably will feel more like an earthquake.
