Nathaniel Hartley '17 Recruiting Profile

Class of 2017- Gaston Day School.

I am fortunate to swim for a great club- the Rock Hill Rays- and I'm happy to swim for my varsity team at Gaston Day School.  So far, in my 5th year of swimming for Gaston Day, I have never lost any individual event and hold state records in a few events. I'm primarily a sprinter/mid-distance swimmer and I my main events are 50/100/200 free and 100/200 back.  

In the summer of 2015, I was chosen to be the subject of a mini-documentary by Gatorade called "Win from Within".  It should be released no later than early November 2015. I did not pursue this opportunity; they contacted me when I was at Short Course nationals last March.  Its purpose was to spotlight four athletes around the world who are strong in their sport but who had overcome some challenge in life.  My challenge was that I had a life threatening illness for about 3 years, did a bunch of chemo, got Make a Wish, etc. Then, when I started to go into remission and kind of live a normal life, the oncologist said the only sport I was allowed to pursue would be swimming.  That's why I got into swimming and I am very grateful.  Since I'm about 6'6", if I had not had my options limited, I may have been pulled into basketball or soccer. I'm so glad that I discovered swimming- it's the perfect sport for me.

(Gatorade picked me, a softball player from PA, and one athlete from Samoa and one from the Philippines.  A film crew shadowed me for about 6 days straight and then went to regionals with me. It was a very interesting experience and the crew was awesome.  I will post that video once it is released.)

I want to swim for a strong and competitive college team that has good team spirit and camaraderie.