 "Photo: THE REVIEW/Alyssa Benedetto")
Shoulder injuries and competitive swimming are a combination that can often end poorly. However, despite his two shoulder surgeries, Delaware swimmer Grady Carter has shown no sign of slowing down in the pool this year.
The junior Newark native has posted a 8-1 record in individual races and was named CAA Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 10 after winning four events in the CAA Pod Meet.
For all his triumphs, however, Carter is not one to act arrogant. The resounding answer from coaches and teammates is that he is very quiet, reserved, and perhaps most importantly, humble.
He said his coaches are an important part of his success.
“I do whatever [my coaches] say for practice and try to just maintain perfect form and technique the whole time,” Carter said. “I try and put as much trust in the coaches and that what they’re doing is the best for me.”
His coaches say Carter does just fine on his own.
“Grady is reserved, but he has a clear idea of what he needs to do to swim fast and I think he’s successful because of that,” graduate assistant and sprint coach Marc Christian said. “He takes ownership of his swimming, and knows what he has to do to get better and that makes it easier on my end.”
Carter is bouncing back from his second shoulder surgery in March. He has had both shoulders operated on while at Delaware, but has not let that hinder his training. Carter said he’s looking to qualify for the NCAA Tournament next season since he feels the season is not long enough to recover.
Nonetheless, Carter’s performances so far this season have been spot on. Last weekend at the Loyola Invitational, he won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles in 20.66 and 45.72, along with the 100-yard backstroke in 51.89, all in-season best times. His freestyle times are also the fastest for a Delaware swimmer this year.
According to Christian, Carter makes an effort to research swimming techniques on his own, and bring suggestions and ideas about different styles to practice based on what some of the top teams in the nation are doing. Head coach John Hayman said Carter’s focus in practice is something rare in most swimmers, let alone athletes in general.
“He’s so in touch with what his body needs and how to go about achieving success. That’s very unusual for an athlete,” Hayman said. “He knows what his body is doing in the water, and in swimming you lose all sense of touch, feel, and he doesn’t. He knows where his hand is and if it’s out of position he corrects it right away. There’s very few people like him.”
Carter, a graduate of Newark High School, is a swimmer Hayman knows well. Carter also swam for a club team in high school that practiced at the university, and was a top sprint freestyler. He chose Delaware after not wanting to move too far from home. Hayman said since entering college, Carter has expanded his range of swimming immensely.
“He really has become a lot more versatile as he’s gotten older but his big race that he loves is the 50 free and I’m not going to take that away,” Hayman said. “But he’s gotten to the point that he’s realized he can be pretty successful in some other events too.”
Carter has very specific goals for the CAA championships at George Mason in February.
“For the team, I would like to win, and I feel like it could be done,” Carter said. But individually, I’d like to at least win one event, and time-wise I have specific goals. I want to go :43 in the 100 and :19 in the 50.”
Even while Carter is unsure of whether or not he’ll qualify for the NCAA championships in March, both of his coaches have faith that he has a good chance of doing so.
“I think his end goal is to qualify for NCAA’s and I think he’s got a shot at it,” Christian said. “It’s tough because it’s Division I and we’re a mid-major school so to qualify on your own is pretty difficult, but I think he’s got the talent to do it.”
As quiet as Carter is, he certainly makes his presence known in the pool. Along with his many individual victories, Carter has anchored a number of winning relays for the Hens this season. This past weekend at Loyola, he was a part of the first place 200 and 400 medley relays, as well as the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. Earlier this season, he was a member of the school record setting 200 medley relay at the CAA Pod Meet.
“People definitely look to him for his leadership in the pool,” Christian said. “He definitely is reserved so he’s not the most vocal leader, but he makes up for that with what he does in the pool and how he trains. I think people do look to him because they can rely on him the relays because they know he’s going to step up and swim fast, and we put him as the anchor in the relay because we know he’s going to get the job done.”
Hayman agreed.
“He knows what needs to be done and he does talk with other guys on the team about how to race and race strategy and what we’ve got to do for this relay or that,” he said. “He’s definitely involved with the development of the team. He’s just a very quiet guy.”
Delaware has finished its meets for 2009, and will travel to Florida for its annual training trip in December. The Hens have three more regular season contests before the CAA championships. Christian said Carter’s influence on the team and vice versa is invaluable.
“I’m excited about his season and I think he’s going to do well along with the rest of the sprint team,” Christian said. “We’ve got a good environment. He’s feeding off everyone else. They’re feeding off him. His success is everyone else’s success. I think that’s just going to elevate the whole team.”
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