Katelyn Hunter Dedicated to Falcons' Success in the Pool
10/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 3, 2008
USAFA, Colo. - When junior Katelyn Hunter arrived at the Academy, she had to make a choice: which of her beloved sports--soccer or swimming--would she concentrate all of her focus on? Fortunately for the Air Force women's swimming team, Hunter, a native of La Crescent, Minn., chose the latter, and her commitment to the sport has been apparent.
"I remember when Katelyn told us of her decision to swim versus playing soccer here at the Academy," said Air Force head coach Casey Converse. "We were thrilled then and even more pleased now. She brings a level of athleticism to swimming that it usually takes years to develop and I think that is due in large part to her years playing a high level of soccer."
"Basically, I chose swimming because I thought I would miss it the most between soccer and swimming," said Hunter. "I figured soccer is a sport you can always just go out and play, whereas in swimming you have to be dedicated to get anything out of it."
In the past two years, Hunter, a backstroke specialist, has definitely been dedicated to her sport. While she admittedly struggled somewhat during her freshman year, she strived to improve in her sophomore season. She worked even more diligently, not only in practice, but in the weight room as well. She focused on her sprint backstroke and worked on perfecting both her backstroke start and the tempo of her kick. By the end of the season, Hunter had turned in the team's fastest time in the 100 backstroke, while also leading off both medley relays for the Falcons at the MWC Championships.
"The great thing about Katelyn is that she is the kind of athlete who performs at an even higher level when she is on a relay team--her individual swim at our conference meet was good, but her lead-off split on the relay was even better," said Converse. "I think she came out of the conference championship with a new level of confidence in her abilities and an understanding of what she needs to work on to go to the next level."
Hunter's efforts, and their results, did not go unnoticed, as she was named the recipient of the Coach's Award in 2008, granted "for extraordinary dedication to personal and team goals."
"Katelyn has made great progress in her first two years swimming at the Division I level," said Converse. "The reason Katelyn was recognized with our coach's award last season is as much because of perseverance as any other attribute. We had a talk mid-way through last year about staying the course and at the end of the season she had the breakthroughs that she had worked so hard for."
"Winning the coach's award meant so much to me," said Hunter. "I am not a very fast swimmer during the year and rarely get my best times until the end meet. It was nice to see that the coaches recognized my efforts...I was honored to be thought of as an essential part of the swim team."
Hunter's dedication will be even more essential to the success of this year's young team, which features 16 freshmen and sophomores. She has been preparing for the long season ahead and is looking for ways to make even more improvements this year, not only in her backstroke, but in the freestyle as well.
"I have been thinking about what I need to do to improve my times this year and decided that I need to start focusing on getting into and out of the walls with speed," said Hunter. "Because I am fastest underwater, I am going to kick 15 meters underwater both ways on my 50 back and get my tempo even lower, with similar goals for my 100. I am already lifting more weight than I did at the end of last year, and feel confident I can get my legs stronger to make my kick more effective. I also have been working on my freestyle start and I feel I have improved since the end of last year at conference."
Indeed, Hunter has set tangible goals for herself, beyond just "getting better." This season, she hopes to break 59 seconds in the 100 backstroke and 27 seconds in the 50 back. She has high aspirations for her teammates as well, as she wants to help break the school record in the 400 freestyle relay, while having at least nine swimmers make it out of the preliminaries at the MWC Championships. Of course, with the dedication, commitment and focus that Hunter possesses, no goal is out of reach.
"She cares a lot about her team and has emerged as a strong leader among her peers," said Converse. "It is great to see Katelyn and her classmates start to take the reins of leadership as juniors on the swim team. As a biology major, Katelyn has a tough academic load while training up to 20 hours per week for swimming, yet she handles it all with grace and good humor. I look forward to more good results for her in the second half of her career with us. She is a pleasure to have on our team."
