Just minutes before his freestyle and butterfly races at the Chatham County Aquatic Center, Isle of Hope’s Sam Parker wasn’t displaying any butterflies.
“Not really,” said the 10-year-old, when asked if he was nervous before diving into the pool at the Georgia Swimming 14 & Under Long Course Championships.
Parker, a state champion in short course competition at Georgia Tech in February, placed third in both the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly events while swimming for the Georgia Coastal Aquatic Team (GCAT) on Friday afternoon.
Parker swam in the 10-and-under age group. About 50 boys and girls teams and 922 athletes overall were competing in the four-day championships which included swimmers in age groups up to 14 years old.
Parker, who will attend fifth grade at Savannah Christian in the fall, doesn’t play other sports. He was lured to the water by following his brother to the Isle of Hope community pool.
Eventually, Parker joined GCAT.
“Sam is just a strong powerful kid,” GCAT coach Bill Forrester said. “He works hard. He loves to swim, and he does a great job of it. We’re very proud of him.”
Forrester, who knows a little something about swimming talent, sees Parker as one of the team’s rising stars.
Forrester was a bronze medalist in the 200-meter butterfly for the United States at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Forrester’s daughter Patricia, a top freestyle swimmer, is headed to the University of Tennessee.
Parker swims freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke and does the individual medley. At the recent Savannah Coastal Swim League City Meet, he won eight events and was high-point scorer. He set a meet record with a 33.76 in the 50 backstroke.
“We’re looking for great things from him,” Forrester said.
In the short course competition in Atlanta, Parker won the 50-yard and 100-yard backstrokes. He was third in the 100 freestyle.
“I’ve been working (at swimming) for a few years now and my favorite stroke is the backstroke,” Parker said.
Big crowd
Parking for the Chatham County Aquatic Center spilled across Sallie Mood Drive and parents and grandparents armed with cameras and video equipment crowded around the eight-lane pool.
A constant buzz of youthful excitement pierced the eardrums.
The big winners during this four-day tournament might be local merchants who are seeing increased business.
“I hear a lot of people love Savannah and while they’re here, they’ll visit downtown and Tybee,” Forrester said. “Hopefully, they’ll spend a day or two extra to have fun.”