Shoemaker carves out a niche
GROVE CITY — After a successful swimming career at Knoch, Hannah Shoemaker was unsure whether she would continue in the sport in college.
It was a difficult decision for Shoemaker to make.
She had competed in the pool since the age of 5 and it appeared it was going to be over.
“I hadn't planned on swimming at all,” Shoemaker said.
As a mechanical engineering major at Grove City College, Shoemaker figured she wouldn't have the time to pursue a sport.
In fact, she was warned against it.
But she had an itch that needed to be scratched and she found herself in the pool with members of the swim team.
It started out as just one-hour practices in the fall, long before the season was set to start.
Then, a future teammate asked her, “Are you coming to the real practices?”
Shoemaker shrugged and said, “Sure, why not.”
“I kind of got sucked into it,” she said, chuckling.
It was easier for her than she thought to juggle a sport and her studies.
“They became my friend group and we'd spend time at meals after practice,” Shoemaker said. “Swimming was my social time and it made me feel like I wasn't missing out.”
While Shoemaker only swam exhibition races as a freshman, her times improved.
She got quicker and stronger.
As as sophomore, she scored in the Presidents' Athletic Conference meet and she capped off her senior and final season Saturday by scoring in three events at the PAC Championships in her home pool.
Shoemaker had a big hand in the program's 10th consecutive conference title.“We've built this program on the shoulders of people like Hannah,” said Grove City College men's and women's swimming and diving coach Dave Fritz.Her flexibility was her strongest asset.Shoemaker competed in just about every event in her career at Grove City College.“What was nice about Hannah was she was pretty good at just about anything,” Fritz said. “She had the flexibility where we could put her into a variety of events and she had a great attitude.”Shoemaker said her versatility also made practices enjoyable.“It made practices so much more interesting,” she said. “I was OK at everything, so practices were different every day. There was a lot of variety.”Shoemaker realized she was never going to be in the conversation with some of the faster swimmers in the program.But that was fine because of the culture of the program.“Everyone has a place on our team,” Shoemaker said. “We didn't do it because we had to. We did it because we love it.”Now it's suddenly over for Shoemaker.And she's slowly coming to grips with that.“It's weird not having another season to look forward to,” Shoemaker said. “It's been really hard. I've taken a long time to process it.”
