Hamilton West’s Sam Courtney is only a sophomore but she has lead the Hornets’ swim team this season.
To say that Sam Courtney took to the water like a fish would be, well, a false statement. In fact, she took to it more like a cat, shrieking whenever wetness engulfed her.
The Hamilton West sophomore said she so hated putting her head below the surface she’d scream if any part of her got wet.
“My mom wanted me to learn to stay above the water in our backyard pool, so she threw me in a class when I was a little older than a year.”
Which was probably wiser than just throwing her in the pool. But Karen Courtney’s tactics made a difference, as her daughter is considered the top performer on the Hornets’ girls swim team this year.
“Sam is naturally talented,” Hamilton coach Kyle Schulke said. “She has swum thousands of laps over the years improving her stroke, and feeds off competition. She swims up to her opponents’ (level) and uses them to push herself.”
Once Courtney conquered her fear of water, she joined the Hamilton Aquatics YMCA team that competed in the Princeton Area Swimming & Diving Association at age 5. She became a year-round swimmer with HAC at age 12, having followed big sister Alyson each step of the way.
The two got to swim together for one season, and Alyson is now a freshman on the Elizabethtown College team.
“She’s always motivated me to go faster since we were little,” Sam said. “We were always in the same lane right in front of each other. I admit I kind of hated being in her lane so I’d push myself to go faster and move up to a faster lane. But next thing I knew a few days later she was right behind me again.
Courtney said the two have “always had a friendly rivalry,” but the older they’ve gotten, the more they’ve grown to help each other. Sam said Alyson she gives 400 advice, while Sam provides butterfly tips.”
She’s pretty qualified to do that, considering her strongest event is the 200 fly. That only takes place in club meets and college, however, as high school runs a 100 fly.
“She has a very efficient stroke and can still compete in the shorter race,” Schulke said. “I’ve tried hard to convert her from a freestyle swimmer to a distance swimmer. She can swim any of the freestyle events and the fly.”
It has been a hard sell, as Courtney would much rather be spreading her wingspan in a race than churning through the water with a whole bunch of conventional freestyle strokes.
“The 400 isn’t exactly my favorite race,” she said. “I’m used to racing in the sprint free or butterfly with HAC. So coach Schulke really had to convince me to even try the 400 last year.
“It’s such a hard race to swim and I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m hoping to break the record but I’ll be happy dropping any time at all,” she added with a laugh. “I’ve dropped a lot of time since last year in the butterfly, thanks to (HAC) coach Sue (Walsh’s) stroke sets. I work really hard to make my fly better so I’m happy with that.”
Courtney’s best times this year have been 30.95 in the 50 free, 1:08.62 in the 100 free, 1:15.94 and 5:20.50 in the 400 free. Schulke is figuring on putting her in the fly and 400 free at the Mercer County meet.
“I know that if Sam has the right competition around her in the 400, she can push herself to make the cut and swim in the finals,” he said.
Schulke and Walsh are trying to correct Courtney’s flip turns, which she hopes will help her shave off a few seconds at the county meet.
It’s a whole different deal in the butterfly, where Sam really is like a fish in water.
“Fly comes pretty naturally to me,” she said “I don’t even know how to explain it, honestly. Schulke had me helping some of the freshmen who wanted to swim fly at practice one day. I tried explaining it but they looked at me like I was crazy!
“I was like ‘Just lift your hips up, keep your legs together and go!’ I didn’t even realize how hard of a stroke it was until I tried teaching it to someone else.”
Schulke certainly doesn’t take Courtney’s fly abilities for granted.
“Having a swimmer who is a strong flyer makes writing lineups a lot easier,” he said. “Against most schools she can win several different events so I have some flexibility to mix up our lineup depending on our opponents strengths.”
The coach praises Courtney’s work ethic, noting that a person needs a strong one to swim year-round for both club and school.
“She shows a great dedication to the sport for swimming on both teams during the high school season,” he said.
And yet, she isn’t so intense that she has no sense of humor.
“Sam has a great personality,” Schulke said. “She can be fun and goof around with the other swimmers, but she knows when to be serious and focus on her events.
“My swimmers know that I eat all the time and because of all the swimming she does, her appetite is up there with mine. Our team is very close knit and supportive of each other and Sam is a big part of that. She is quick to help her teammates and offer advice.”
Courtney has discovered it is harder to satisfy her appetite with Schulke around.
“We definitely mess around with each other most of the time, and he’s always stealing my food,” she said. “But he tells me what he needs me to swim and what I need to do to win and it usually works out well. He’s not scared to tell me what I did wrong either, which I guess helps me in the long run.”
Courtney obviously has a love of swimming to be able to endure the countless hours she spends in the pool. But part of that is due to the company she keeps.
“My favorite thing about swimming is my team mates,” she said. “I know it sounds corny but your teammates really become your family. I’m really close with both teams, but especially HAC.
“In the summer we swim double practices, so we end up spending at least five hours a day with each other. We hang out a lot outside of the pool too, which is really cool.”
Kind of like her friends when she was 1. They had to hang out outside the pool, because she sure didn’t want to get in it.
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