School: Norristown
Swimming
Favorite athlete: Michael Phelps
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that happened while competing in sports: “Diving into a breaststroke race and forgetting what I was supposed to be swimming, so I did freestyle instead!”
Must on iPod: “Mainly pop and movie soundtracks”
Future plans: “Go to college and get a degree in elementary education”
Words to live by: “Hakuna Matata” (There are no worries.)
One goal before turning 30: “Have a job and hopefully be starting a family.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “One of my favorite things is to travel around the country.”
‘Swimming has become my life.’
Those are the words Katelyn Brenner uses to describe her passion for swimming, but don’t be fooled. The Norristown junior, who was recently inducted into her school’s National Honor Society, is as interested in passing on her love of the sport to others as she is in competing.
An excellent student with aspirations to one day become an elementary school teacher, Brenner has been an assistant swimming coach at a local swim club ever since she was in high school.
“I love dealing with the kids,” she said. “It’s a great learning experience for me, and it’s just so much fun helping the kids swim when I love swimming so much as well.”
“The kids look up to her,” said Norristown coach Beth O’Neil, who is also the coach at Markley Farms Swim Club where Brenner is an assistant. “She helps the young swimmers, teaches them new strokes.
“She gets in the water with them. She helps with warm-ups. I can give her a group of swimmers to teach and stroke, and I never have to think twice. I never have to say, ‘I want you to do this.’ She finds things because she knows the skills and drills from swimming. She can take a group and lead them.”
Brenner has taken those leadership skills to her high school where she is a junior captain of an Eagle team that has tripled in size.
“I really needed someone who could handle the drama and has what it takes to get the girls to where they need to be,” O’Neil said. “Katelyn has just stepped up and done that.”
Brenner’s goals as captain are simple.
“In the beginning, it was just trying to get everyone acquainted with it, making sure everybody loved it so they would stay,” she said. “Now they’re so great – I have become really good friends with all of them.
“I just try to keep pushing them to drop their times. They’ve all really improved. I know me pushing them is making me go faster too.”
Although she began taking swimming lessons at the age of two, Brenner did not begin swimming competitively until she was 10 years old and began swimming for the local club squad.
“One year I just decided to try out for the team because I liked swimming so much,” she said.
What began as a summer hobby grew to include swimming competitively in winter and then joining the high school team in ninth grade.
“I really wasn’t that great at all,” Brenner recalled. “Coach Beth put me in a few things just to see what I was best at.
“I ended up being pretty good at the distance (swims).”
Since ninth grade, Brenner has been competing in the 200 and 500. She is, according to O’Neil, a relentless worker.
“She isn’t always the fastest, but she has worked hard to get to where she is,” the Eagles’ coach said. “She has earned her way into a top relay, but she’s always been in that second relay.
“Last year she was my second to the top distance swimmer. I’ve had swimmers that work hard, but she’s dedicated.”
That dedication is spearheaded by Brenner’s drive to reach a singular goal – earn a spot in districts.
“I’m getting closer in every meet,” she said. “It gets discouraging at times when I get out of the water and I feel like I should have made it but didn’t drop the time that I needed.
“But I know I still have a few meets coming up, and if I just keep working hard at practice, I can get it.”
Working hard is not a new concept for Brenner.
“She wants districts so bad, and you can see it in everything she does,” O’Neil said. “She doesn’t miss a morning practice, she doesn’t miss an afternoon practice, and she doesn’t miss a Saturday practice.
“She’s made every aquatic meet since she’s been a swimmer. She’s just a good kid.”
Like all swimmers, Brenner admits her schedule – which includes a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call to be in the pool by 6:15 and includes daily after-school practices – is rigorous.
“I’m pretty exhausted most nights,” she said. “It’s typically – go home and eat dinner so I have the energy to complete my homework and study for tests.”
Swimming year-round has taught Brenner to manage her time.
“That’s the one thing I love about swimming – it’s also a discipline,” she said. “Part of the determination I learned from swimming goes into my education.
“I know that grades come before sports. As long as I’m keeping up my grades, then I know I can keep swimming and doing what I love.”
Although Brenner is not the star, she is a major contributor to this year’s young Eagle squad.
“She’s worth points for our team,” O’Neil said. “She may not always be a first place point winner, but she scores points for the team.
“She’s just a great kid.”
