By Rachel Ewart, Swimming World College Intern
Henderson State senior Lauren Sutton finished up her swim career of 17 years with several personal best times. Although hanging up the goggles was bittersweet, Sutton is grateful for what swimming has shown her.
Swimming’s Carry-Over Lessons
This talented athlete began swimming at five years of age and realized it was something she thoroughly enjoyed. Later, her father had a major impact on her pursuit of college swimming at Henderson State University. She is honored to share the same team as her father did, making up HSU’s first family legacy.
“My dad swam at Henderson under Coak Matthews as well, which is cool that we ended up at the same college,” Sutton said. “Swimming is a huge thing in the Sutton household and I am very blessed to have parents who were loving and supportive of it throughout the years.”
Although swimming had its highs and its lows, Sutton mentions that she doesn’t regret a single second of it. Training is exhausting both physically and mentally, but Sutton believes that those elements lead you to success.
“One thing I have also learned is that you can have the extrinsic motivators such as your coach or the training, but inside you have to reason with yourself why you swim,” Sutton said. “My reasoning was because I loved it! I loved jumping in a pool and challenging myself at practice. I loved having those awkward swimmer tan lines. I loved making it through practice with my best friends because we accomplished something together. This list cold go on, but most importantly I loved what kind of person it made me.”
Without swimming, Sutton claims that she wouldn’t be as great at managing her time, learning how to work with different types of people or setting goals and working hard to accomplish them. All these factors set her up for a good transition into future careers and goals in life.
Photo Courtesy: Deborah Miller
Flipping A Mental Switch
During Sutton’s sophomore and junior year of college, she put a large amount of pressure on swimming and performing well, which resulted in stress.
“I didn’t get the full enjoyment that I had in my other years of swimming because I was focused too much on only the competitive side of swimming,” Sutton said.
However, senior year was a blast as Sutton took a different approach to the sport: constant positivity.
“I’m happy with how I finished my swim career and the people I have met through this sport,” Sutton said. “If I had to choose one thing I would have done differently it would be to remind myself to not put so much pressure on the small things of the sport. It doesn’t matter if you have one bad race, you have to move on and change something so that you can be happy with your next one.”
Sutton served as HSU’s team captain her junior and senior years of college as she added a positive, happy vibe to the team. Henderson’s head swimming and diving coach Coak Matthews affirms that Sutton’s uplifting attitude lights up every room she enters. No matter what was happening in the pool or on dry land, Sutton always had a smile on her face.
“Lauren has made a huge impact on our team from the time she arrived until she finished her career,” Matthews said. “She was a fantastic performer whom I could always count on to give me all she had whether in a dual meet, invitational or championship meet.”
This season, she hit best times in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Sutton clocked a 1:51.67 in her 200 and a 51.89 in the 100. Even though she missed qualifying for NCAAs this year, her 200 freestyle time would have scored at the meet.
“To see Lauren conclude a very successful career and to finish with one of her best meets ever makes a coach feel very good,” Matthews said. “However, it’s a bittersweet feeling to see her graduate out of the team. She is a person of high moral character and great integrity.”
Photo Courtesy: Roger Zhang
Advice from A Seasoned Senior
As Sutton concludes her collegiate swimming career, she advises active swimmers to not let negativity get you down. It doesn’t matter if you are fast or not, Sutton encourages you to swim because you love it. Swimming has potential to bring some of the best memories in life. Immerse yourself in those unforgettable opportunities.
“The hardest part of it all is not swimming,” Sutton said. “I loved competing for 17 years and now it’s over, it’s quite a difference. But even though swimming was a big part of my life, I am ready to see what God has in store for my future.”