Nathan Stafford’s journey to competitive swimming began with him hating the pool.
As he recalls, his mother Anneke made him pick various activities to try out as a young boy. Among hockey, lacrosse, and other sports, Nathan gave swimming a chance, only to give it up after just one season of competition.
The following year, Nathan and his family were forced to endure a terrible cruelty: their second devastating house fire of the past decade. At the same time, he began to gain weight, and desperately needed an outlet for his young teenage energy. He decided to get back into the pool.
“That year we had the house fire, there was just so much going on,” remembers mother Anneke. “And then he said he wanted to go back. That’s the year he changed and he wanted to do the competition.”
“I was a really chubby kid and I wanted to lose weight,” says Nathan. “When my mom started me in there because she wanted me to do a sport, I hated it with a passion. But then I came back to it because I realized how good it was for your health.”
What started as an excuse for regular exercise gradually developed into something more, as Nathan discovered not that he began enjoying his swimming sessions, but that he was getting better at them. Stronger, faster.
Now, five years later, he’ll be representing the Muskoka Aquatic Club at the Provincial Long Course Championships this March after qualifying for three different swims at last weekend’s East Coast Nationals in Montreal. Read the Doppler story on MUSAC gearing up for the East Coast Nationals here.
Nathan (lane five) gets a clean start off the blocks to put his team in great position during the 100 metre relay
“It was great, I did two swims over the weekend, making finals in one of them while getting best times in both,” says Nathan. “Next weekend I’ll be going for age group National times, which are a little bit harder.”
It’s another step in the road for a young athlete who has found that the benefits of swimming have impacted more than just his waistline.
“I learned time management,” says the Huntsville High School senior. “There are a whole lot of practices and I had to figure out how to do all of my homework and other responsibilities along with swimming. As a result, I don’t have very much free time.”
Nathan’s confidence and maturity level has also seen rapid development as a result of following his passion. Now one of the oldest and fastest members of MUSAC, he has a contingent of young swimmers looking up to his example as he continues to set personal bests and break club records.
“In terms of his training performances, Nathan has matured quite a bit over the past year and he is very focused,” says former coach Sarah Fellner. “He’s got some very specific goals, but probably more that that he’s focused on the process. He has also taken on more of a leadership role this past year, which is not only a benefit to him but also the other kids as well.”
The MUSAC Eastern Nationals team of (from left) Samuel Kuntz, Allyson Goldring, Samantha Goldring and Nathan Stafford celebrate their success in Montreal
Nathan’s recent results have also attracted the interest of several Canadian universities, who have been wooing the soon-to-be high school graduate over the past several months in the hopes of having him join their swim programs next year.
“I’ve gone to a couple meets with different teams and have been talking with a few others,” says Nathan. “At the University of Ottawa I stayed the weekend and swam with the team. Carleton also had a very nice group of people. They may not be the fastest but that’s partly because it’s a smaller team.”
Having applied around the province to engineering programs at RMC, University of Toronto, Waterloo, Western, Queen’s, University of Ottawa and Carleton, Nathan is awaiting acceptance letters over the next few weeks before making his final decision.
“A lot is based on location too,” says the young swimmer. “I applied to University of Toronto because they have the best swim program, but I’ve been thinking I probably won’t go there because I’m not a big city person. As of right now I’m hoping for RMC, and my backup plan will be Ottawa. I enjoyed the team, the academic program seems great and I really liked the school.”
“When I see that kind of a commitment out of him, I think, ‘Boy if that’s how you feel, I’m more than willing to help you,’” affirms Anneke. “It’s good to see a kid with goals.”
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