Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Through countless hours of hard work and dedication, Samuel Chase Woodard has brought home hardware from some of the highest level swim meets in the southeast.
At these high level meets Woodard is racing the best of the best swimmers within the region. Woodard not only qualifies to attend these elite swim meets, he also medals, and takes home the gold.
“He’s always been a fish, I taught him to swim when he was two or three but he was even a fish before he was born,” Woodard’s mom Amanda Woodard said.
When Chase doesn’t medal, placing within the top three, he at least makes finals, which according to Chase’s longtime and first coach Martie Brown, is unheard of.
Chase was selected to participate on the Southeastern Swimming or SES, Long Course Championship Zone Team last summer where he competed against the best swimmers in his 11-12 year-old-age-group. The SES Zones Championship has 11 southern states that participate, from West Virginia to Texas. The SES team placed third last summer, just narrowly missing the bronze slot to Florida.
In order to qualify, Chase had to compete at a high level gaining the time cut in order to be eligible for selection. He had many swims where he received qualifying times at the Southeastern Long Course Championship. This is a meet where the best of the best swimmers from Alabama, Tennessee and the panhandle of Florida compete.
From the SEC Championship, Chase is the first swimmer in Prattville Swim League history to ever take gold home from this meet. Chase placed top eight in everything he swam, meaning he not only had to swim the events in prelims, but the same day, he would have to compete in finals.
Chase stated his favorite stroke is the breaststroke and that he also hates to lose more than anything.
“I like to win, the urge and want to win gets me to the pool everyday, and my mom gets me to the pool everyday too,” Chase said.
At the SEC Championships, Chase placed first in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:18.41, a personal best.
The butterfly and the individual medley are also events Chase races often, which are arguably the most grueling events known in the swimming world. At the SEC Championships, Chase also took bronze home in the 50 meter breaststroke with a time of 38.20.
“The first time he won at southeasterns, his coach, his dad and I were in shock. Where did you just pull that from? He just keeps continuing to get better and better, and almost having a perfect meet at southeasterns (meaning he gets personal best times in events), that’s crazy! These are the best swimmers in the state of Tennessee, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. It’s crazy,” Amanda said.
Chase qualified for the Southern Zone Age Group Championships in Cary, North Carolina. This is an even more elite group of swimmers, and Woodard swam six events, placing top 16 and swimming finals in the 100 meter breaststroke placing 10th and the 50 meter breaststroke placing 12th.
“Very seldom do you even have a kid that can qualify for that many events. You might get one or two qualifying times and it gives them the confidence and then they can usually qualify for another one. But very seldom does this happen,” Brown said.
Chase stated that his success comes from the unwavering support from both his parents. Chase confirmed that his dad watches countless hours of videos with him not only analyzing his own stroke and technique, but that of professional swimmers. Showing Chase, when to glide, when to pop and when to shorten or widen his stroke.
“I analyzed their stroke, and realized ‘oh what he’s doing makes sense when you think about physics in the water,’ and so I started to slowly incorporate that into my technique,” Chase said.
Everyone is extremely proud of Chase, from his coaches to his family, however no one is prouder of him than his mom.
“I’m his cheerleader, and I’m just so proud of him. When he gets ready to race I’ll say little things like, ‘I am speed’ because his favorite movie is Cars, ‘beast mode,’ ‘go do your thing,’ or ‘leave it all in the pool.’ But watching the growth, maturity and how he handles things has been my favorite thing to watch. He has always been so determined, and he doesn’t like to lose,” Amanda said.
When Chase was three years old, Amanda was diagnosed with cancer. She bravely went through eight rounds of chemo, 36 rounds of radiation and was given a 35% chance of living four years. Now pushing nine years into remission, Amanda attributes her success and youth to her own fish in the chlorinated pool, and her fish brings home gold.
“He gets his competitiveness and his desire to win from both sides of the family, but he’s the reason I’m still here,” Amanda said.
Looking forward, Chase moves up into the 13-14 year-old division with his birthday in July, where times get faster, some of the boys are bigger and competition gets tougher. However, Coach Brown isn’t worried about Chase, and the drive that he has to take it to the next level.
“In July he’ll be 13 and he’ll be the youngest one in a new age bracket. But keep your eye out for him, he may not be the top dog to start, but I guarantee you that he will be a dog in the fight. He’ll take that challenge,” Brown said.
