Apollo Hess is a member of the Blood Reserve, Kainai Nation. He grew up in Lethbridge, Alberta and was raised by his mother, Ingrid Hess.

Apollo participated in many different activities in his youth. He played soccer, hockey, football, and competed in swimming, cross country and triathlons. He took speech and drama lessons, and also played the cello in a youth orchestra in Lethbridge. It wasn’t until he was 12 years old that Apollo fully committed himself to the sport of swimming. He suffered a series of concussions in football and hockey, which led him to this decision.

Apollo began his journey as a dedicated swimmer by reaching the podium at provincials as a 14 year old, to then winning bronze at Canadian Nationals as a 16 year old in the 16-18 age category. He then signed to swim for his hometown University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, where he would go on to break 11 program records, one Canadian record, two USports records and three Canada West Conference records. He was also awarded in his rookie season the Canada West Rookie and overall Swimmer of the Year.

In September of 2023, Apollo moved across the country to swim at the High Performance Centre - Ontario, located in Toronto. He then qualified for his first Olympic team where he would place 5th as part of Canada’s 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay, becoming the first indigenous person to represent Canada in swimming at an Olympic Games. He also became the first member of the Kainai Nation to go to the Olympics.