The 201cm American, who officially arrived at the club earlier this week, will join the club’s one-to-three year players when they begin their pre-season campaign on Monday, November 18.
Speaking to SwansTV during his first week at the club, the 24-year-old said he was expecting a long and gruelling pre-season, but was looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve heard nothing but horror stories (about pre-season), so I’m pretty nervous going into it,” he said.
“The hardest thing is going to be the endurance; it’s like no other sport in the world I think and running is not my favourite thing to do.
“But I know I can tough it out!”
After performing well at the AFL Combine in Los Angeles in April, the 24-year-old arrived in Sydney with two other US athletes to trial for a place on the Swans’ list in July.
After impressing the coaching staff with his athleticism and work ethic, the club gave Mitchell the opportunity to pursue his AFL career by selecting him as an international rookie in August.
Since his selection, the former college basketballer has worked hard to fine tune his skills at home in Iowa and worked closely with a local AFL club.
“I was actually very fortunate that there was a local Des Moines club team called the Des Moines Roosters, so I had a group I could kick with and train with and work on my kicking really,” he said.
The American recruit said he also had to spend a bit of time explaining his plans to play AFL to friends and family, who knew very little about the Australian game.
“It was a very surreal experience,” he said.
“Everybody thinks it’s rugby back home but I’ve had to sit there and explain to them that it’s not and just have that conversation with everybody.”
As well as the athletic side of the game, Mitchell will work closely with the Swans development coaches to improve his game knowledge and will also spend time with Skills Coach, Nick Davis to improve his basic skills.
While acknowledging there was still a long road ahead before his first game, Mitchell said he was ready to do the work and would make the most of his opportunities at the Swans.
“Just when we were practicing our skills I felt that I was picking them up fairly quickly and that with a little bit more coaching that I could fine tune those skills,” he said.
“I’m basically going to try to put in as much work as I can just to fine tune everything and to make sure I’m ready to go once the season starts.”
