School: Council Rock North
Swimming
Favorite athlete: “My favorite athlete has to be Michael Phelps. He has accomplished so much, and I love watching him swim.”
Favorite team: “I’m a huge New York Giants fan.”
Favorite memory competing in sports: “My 100 fly at Y states my freshman year. It’s the strongest and most confident I ever felt in a race. I went one of my fastest times (1:01), and the whole meet was a blast!”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “Well, every time I attempt to swim the 100 breast it’s a little embarrassing.”
Music on iPod: Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, Eric Hutchinson
Future plans: “I plan on attending Elizabethtown College where I will major in occupational therapy and continue to run and swim.”
Words to live by: “Quoting the back of a running shirt ‘Good enough never is.’ There is always something else to work for.”
One goal before turning 30: “Become fluent in Spanish and spend time living in another country.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “My best friend taught me to swim butterfly (my best stroke) in my first grade teacher’s pool. A little unorthodox!”
Ted Schueller affectionately describes Abby Mitchell as the ‘team’s mother hen.’
“She is the first person to be there for anyone on the team,” the Council Rock North swimming coach said. “She’s there for every kid, no matter who it is.
“She’s just a total team kid, just does whatever is asked of her, no questions asked.”
On an Indian squad loaded with stars, the senior captain is happy to play a supporting role and is more than happy to pick up the crucial second or third place finishes.
“I am definitely in it for the team,” Mitchell said. “I kind of enjoy being the second place because I know how important that is, and I really worked on my finishes.“That’s when I really put my head down, stop breathing and go for it. As fun as it is to get first, I’m just happy to get second or third if it means taking that spot from the other team.”
That’s a pretty novel concept in an era of ‘me first’ athletes, but it works for Mitchell and the Indians.
The senior captain is quietly having a standout year for a Rock North squad that is at the top of the National Conference standings. The versatile senior has qualified for districts in everything but the backstroke and breaststroke – if you’re counting, that’s nine events.
When districts arrive, Mitchell will more than likely be competing in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly – her favorite events, but until then, she’ll swim in whatever event she’s needed.
“She doesn’t squabble about what she swims,” Schueller said. “She doesn’t moan and groan. She’s not selfish. She just does whatever you ask of her – Do you want me to go back-to-back-to-back events? Do you want me to swim through the wall?”
In the Indians’ recent showdown against archrival Pennsbury, Schueller not only encouraged Mitchell’s second relay to beat Pennsbury’s first – which it did, he also hoped to get a pair of second place finishes out of her.
Mitchell delivered.
“The big thing was in her two individual races,” Schueller said. “I was kind of experimenting a little bit and said, ‘I’m going to put Tori Hall in the 100 and put you in the 50. You can go 26 low. You have it in you.’
“She turns around and does 26.2, and we got one-two-three in that event. Then she did the same thing in the 100 fly. I told her she could beat their two, and she touched them out. She quietly has had her best year.”
Mitchell – who credits coaches Dave Prutow and Schueller for her development - has been swimming competitively for only six years.
“I started swimming for a summer team, and I decided that I loved the sport,” she said.
She went on to join the Spirit swim team and from there moved to the Tri-Hampton Y where she competed for several years.
“This year, I decided to stop swimming club and focus on high school because I’m a captain of the swim team,” she said. “I love being captain, I love being a senior, and I’ve been enjoying my senior year as a swimmer.”
Schueller acknowledges that Mitchell is one of those swimmers that every team needs.
“She’s there every day,” the Rock North coach said. “If you had 20 of her, you’d win a championship every year. She’s a key person. I have six to eight kids who are like that – they don’t get the headlines, but they’re such a key factor to the lineup.
“They’ll swim wherever and get the big second place or third and get the occasional first. She’s just quietly had a solid four years.”
Mitchell also competes in cross country. She went out for it as a freshman simply to stay in shape for swimming.
“It was mostly to stay in shape and also meet new people before I got to high school,” she said. “It turns out I love it.
“Honestly, I love just going out on long runs with my friends. That’s the best part. The rest is pretty brutal, but you do get a runner’s high.”
Last fall, she was a top seven runner for an Indian squad that qualified for states, but swimming has always come first.
“Even during the cross country season, I tried to get to swim practices as often as possible,” she said. “I try and practice as often as possible, and while I’m there, I try and make the best of it.
“I’m not fooling around or skipping laps. I’m really trying to do as much as I can.”
Mitchell is also an excellent student and is carrying a heavy workload this year.
“Academically, I do try and push myself,” she said. “This year I’m taking pretty hard courses, and swimming has helped me stay focused with that.
“I’m very disciplined because I don’t have time to fool around. Swimming has definitely helped to keep my grades up.”
Mitchell participates in STAR, a volunteer program that tutors elementary school kids. She also teaches swim lessons and works as a lifeguard and also at an ice cream shop.
In each of the past two summers, she has gone on a missions trip with her friend’s church – North and Southampton Reformed.
Two years ago, her service team traveled to Louisiana to help rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina. Last summer, the team went to Indiana to rebuild homes destroyed by a flood.
“Last year I got to drive a backhoe and use all this crazy equipment,” she said. “It was really fun. I can’t wait to go again.”
Looking ahead to next year, Mitchell hopes to compete in both cross country and swimming. She will be attending Elizabethtown College where she will major in occupational therapy.
“I’ve already talked to both coaches, so hopefully I can work it so that I can swim and run,” she said. “I like staying busy.”
Some things just never change.
