- 2018 Highlights
Personal Statement
My name is Hayden Britt. I am a 6'0 sophomore from Benton, Arkansas. I began swimming with a local summer league, the Bryant Barracudas, in the summer of 2006. I was 11 years old. When I joined the team my swimming ability consisted of the doggy paddle. In that 6 weeks of summer league, I learned all four strokes and qualified for the Meet of Champs at the end of the summer season. I went on to swim with this team for several more summers before joining the AAU team Bryant BASS.
In the summer of 2013, I got the opportunity to swim as part of Team Arkansas at the AAU Junior Olympics. This was a great experience as the meet was held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I swam several individual races and three relays at the Junior Olympics; all three relay teams, for which I was the anchor, earned either a silver or bronze medal.
After returning home from Michigan, my coach, Jim, suggested that I try out for the CASC Racers; the local USA team in my area. My parents and I talked and we even asked Coach Jim if he didn't like having me on the team. His response was that he enjoyed me being on the team but felt I needed more to become the swimmer he believed me to be. So I did a test set for Racers. I was placed on the intermediate team until I was ready to move up to the more advanced group. I would stay with the intermediate group for about a year because I was intimidated and yet so in awe of the swimmers on the advanced team. I was not confident that I could compete with them at that level. The coaches saw something in me that I did not see at that time and moved me to the advanced team.
As a Racer I have learned what we refer to as the "4-Ds": discipline, determination, dedication, and desire. These "4-Ds" serve as a foundation on which I can build success in the pool as well as greater successes throughout my life. The achievements I have accomplished as a member of the CASC Racer swim team include making the state team for both the short and long course seasons every year since 2014. In December of 2017, I qualified for the Pro Am swim meet in Lewisville, Texas where I swam the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard backstroke and was a member of two relay teams. I also did time trials for the 100 backstroke and the 100 yard butterfly. I swam some of my fastest times at Pro Ams and I am looking forward to returning in the years to come.
I think that my positive attitude, work ethic, determination, and being coachable are what set me apart from other swimmers. I think that I could be a great addition to a swim program at the college level.
