Brighter Outlook Helps Simmons Succeed

It wasn’t that long ago El Toro High senior Katie Simmons was only a couple of words away from quitting swimming.

Simmons, then 13, already had nine years of swimming with the Irvine Novaquatics and recently had moved into another training group.

But unlike previous years, when swimming was a way to goof around and have fun, things changed.

“When I moved up to the other group, some of my friends had either quit or gone into another group,” Simmons said. “For me, the only reason I swam was to be with my friends and have fun. It was hard for me to get motivated.”

Even for Simmons’ brother, John, who was a standout swimmer at El Toro High and who now swims at Southern Methodist, his sister’s antics upset him.

“Sometimes I would get kicked out and John would yell at me. I would ask him not to tell my mom, but he’d tell her anyway. It seemed he was embarrassed about the way I acted sometimes,” Simmons said.

Simmons said her brother was her complete opposite. He was serious about training, while she saw swimming as a way to have fun and socialize.

But when she found herself alone in the club’s top training group with none of her old friends around, she almost quit the sport.

“It was hard,” Simmons said. “My friend Melanie Pells told me she was going to quit and I begged her to stay on. The only reason she stayed on the last three months was because I asked her to. But after she left. I wanted to quit. I wasn’t having fun and I didn’t want to train hard. So I figured, what was the point?”

Novaquatics Coach Dave Salo realized Simmons’ dilemma. He took Simmons aside and gave her a talk that changed her outlook.

“He just told me that he realized it would be hard for me since my friends weren’t there,” said Simmons, 18. “But he told me I had a lot of potential, and if I wanted to reach that potential, I would have to get serious about the sport.”

From that point, Simmons made a commitment and her efforts in the pool started to culminate in faster times and marked improvement.

In 1993, Simmons attained junior and senior national time standards and her times in the breaststroke placed her among the top 16 nationally in her age group.

Her freshman year at El Toro, Simmons swam what is still her best time in the 100-yard breaststroke, 1:04.80. At the Southern Section Division I finals, she finished second. That year, Simmons swam at meets with her brother John, then a senior. While that might foster a sibling rivalry for some, Simmons said there was no problem.

“There was never any pressure on me to do as well or better than my brother. In fact, his events would usually be before mine, and it would always pump me up after watching my brother swim,” Simmons said.

Although she was not pleased with her sophomore and junior seasons--she had ankle surgery her junior year--her times remained consistent. She continually made senior national cuts and placed in the Southern Section finals all three years.

“I think Katie still has a lot of potential,” Salo said. “She has taken the step to get where she is now; now she needs to make the next move.”

Simmons has the third-best breaststroke time this season behind Olympic-bound Amanda Beard of Irvine and Amber Wines of Santa Ana Valley, with whom Simmons will join next year at UCLA.

“Amber and I are friends and we’ve been swimming against each other for a long time. And Amanda, well I used to train with her until she got so fast that she now trains with the guys,” Simmons said, laughing.

For El Toro Coach Jeff Grosse, Simmons’ presence is a plus in the water and the pool deck. “I think Katie has been overlooked by a lot of people. Like last year at the Sea View finals, she was the only double-event winner for us. And that was crucial in our victory over Irvine to win league,” Grosse said. “Ever since she was a freshman, Katie has played a key role in our success as a team. She’s not only a very good swimmer, but she’s a team player. She has always been there to get our team going whether by her swims or by her spirit on the deck.

“She’s just one of those people who always seemed to be pumped up.”

While Simmons said she’s not the goof-off she was a few years ago, she emphasizes that she has a fun streak that surfaces from time to time.

“I’m really spirited,” Simmons said. “Like at the Southern Section girls’ relays last month. We painted war paint on our faces. It just makes me more hyper. And when I’m hyper, I swim faster.”