John Shearer: Several Locals Took Part In Saturday’s Tennessee-Georgia Swim Meet

With two of the top swimming and diving programs in the Southeastern Conference, Georgia and Tennessee are intense rivals in the water.
 
But for a small number of former Chattanooga-area competitors in the two teams’ meet on the UT campus on Saturday, it was also a friendly homecoming.
 
Standout UT swimmer Sam McHugh went to Baylor School, as did Vol diver Emily Pelletier and Georgia swimmer Kimberlee John-Williams. Also, Tennessee diver Michael Howell attended McCallie.
 
For Mr. McHugh, getting to see his old teammate Ms. John-Williams was special.
 
“It was awesome,” he said after the meet at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. “As soon as she got here, I went up and hugged her and talked to her. It’s always great seeing people I know from high school at the swim meets.”
 
Mr. McHugh, a junior who has already been named SEC swimmer of the week twice, scored 11 points in the UT men’s 172-128 loss to No. 5 Georgia. He finished third in the 200-yard freestyle (with a time of 1 minute, 37.88 seconds), third in the 500-yard free (4:25.18), third in the 200 individual medley (1:48.22) and third in the 400 free relay (2:59.77).
 
Despite not coming in first or second, Mr. McHugh did not feel that bad about his day because those who finished ahead of him from Georgia included such standout swimmers as Olympic gold medalist Gunnar Bentz.
 
“I swam well,” he said, adding that he has been working hard on his freestyle stroke this year. “Georgia is a really good team, especially on their men’s side and especially in the events that I happen to swim. I would liked to have gotten faster, but it was a solid meet.”
 
Ms. John-Williams, who attended Baylor from 2010-13 as a boarding student from Trinidad & Tobago, swam in three events. Included was a fourth place in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.72) her highest finish. Individually, she had a seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (57.74) as the Georgia women won, 178-122.
 
“I felt that with where we are in the season, I was OK with it,” she said afterward.
 
Among the other former Chattanooga competitors, UT sophomore and Baylor graduate Emily Pelletier had a third in the 1-meter diving (249.75 points) and a fourth in the 3-meter (262.28).
 
McCallie graduate and UT diver Michael Howell finished fifth in both the 1-meter (299.25) and the 3-meter (313.88).
 
For him, plenty of excitement and emotion came before the meet even began, as he was recognized on Senior Day.
 
“It was great,” he said. “It was a bunch of emotions going into everything. I’m so happy and I’m so incredibly thrilled to be a part of something this big.
 
“I’ve gotten better every single year in steady increments and it’s gone so much farther than I would have ever thought of or dreamed of. I’ve done everything I’ve ever wanted to and I have no regrets.”
 
Mr. Howell, whose family now lives in Jacksonville, Fla., had gone to McCallie from the Montessori School and soon discovered diving as a passion.
 
As a fellow senior, Bulldog swimmer Ms. John-Williams also admitted to becoming reflective about her collegiate career as it winds down.
 
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better on a college swim team,” she said of being a member of a Bulldog women’s squad that was ranked No. 3 in the nation coming into the meet. “I’m really enjoying being with my teammates. It’s been an incredible experience. I only have a couple of meets left, so I’m just enjoying every moment of it.”
 
Besides swimming in multiple events, Ms. John-Williams also juggles multiple classes outside the pool, a work load that even without swimming might make many other students feel as if they are proverbially having to swim upstream.
 
She is a double major in international affairs and political science, is obtaining a minor in environmental law and also has an applied politics certificate.
 
Both Ms. John-Williams and Mr. McHugh credit their overall college success to their Baylor training under coach Dan Flack, a former assistant at Georgia. Since arriving at Baylor in 2005, Coach Flack has won multiple Tennessee state championships, including at the Jones Center pool, where the meet will again be held next month.
 
“I knew pretty much what to expect coming in,” Ms. John-Williams said. “I knew it was going to be hard, but Dan is a great coach, so he prepared me really, really well for it.”
 
Mr. McHugh said Coach Flack knows how to work swimmers hard in the pool. “He didn’t really let anything slide,” said the geology major. “We had probably the same practice schedule that we do now, so it was a real easy transition to college.
 
“He’s a great coach. He knows what he’s doing. He taught me a lot in and out of the pool. He’s a great guy and I still keep in touch with him.”
 
Of course, as a graduate of rival McCallie, Mr. Howell does not let his Baylor teammates, including both Mr. McHugh and fellow Vol diver Ms. Pelletier, boast without discussing the merits of his own prep school training.
 
“She and I always go back and forth with each other because that rivalry will never die – never,” he said with a laugh.
 
These four Tennessee and Georgia competitors from Baylor and McCallie will be reunited at the Jones Center pool one more time when the SEC meet is held there Feb. 14-18.
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net