MWC swimming championships: Utes have an Edge in the pool
Freshman Natalie Edge is not distracted by her hearing impairment
By Martin Renzhofer The Salt Lake Tribune
Even without spectators the Ute Natatorium is crazy noisy, as sound bounces off walls and water making communication difficult. It's even tougher for Utah's freshman swimmer Natalie Edge, who concentrates on reading lips - eyes focused on mouth. Even born with at best 50 percent hearing, the South Jordan native remains relaxed and confident. She's a recruiting gem for first-year coach Greg Winslow. "We were fortunate to get Natalie," said Winslow, a former Arizona State assistant who was hired to replace Michael Litzinger, now an assistant swimming coach at North Carolina. "She's definitely a confident student athlete; soft-spoken, but when she speaks people listen." When asked about Edge's disability, Winslow just smiles: "It's not, really. " A high school All-American at Kearns High, Edge, one of Rick and Victoria's five children, would rather talk swimming than the barely noticeable hearing aids she has been wearnig since age 4. "Natalie is one of those people who doesn't let that stuff get to her," said Stephanie Fredsall, Edge's roommate, teammate and childhood friend. "It's like, 'Oh, whatever.' " Edge, a sprinter on the Utah swim team that is heading to Oklahoma City on Wednesday for the Mountain West Conference championships, has a good chance at qualifying for the
NCAA Championships in the 100-meter freestyle. "I'm more agile in the water," said Edge, who churns through the water with her powerful, muscular strokes. "I'm clumsy on land. It's just you and the water." Edge graduated from Kearns last year as the state champion in the 50, 100 and 200 relay events. She also held the nation's second fastest 50-meter time. Winslow says Edge has star potential. The biggest challenge Edge faces at Utah is making sure she hears the alarm for 5 a.m. practices. "[Hearing loss] doesn't really affect me," Edge said. "I can't hear background noises. It's not too much of a pain." Rick Edge, who played football for Utah in 1971-72, didn't immediately catch on to his daughter's hearing problems, which are categorized as moderate to severe. However, Edge wasn't talking like a typical child. "Her being the baby, we didn't pick up on it," he said. "A doctor told us that if it continues when she entered kindergarten we should look into it. I didn't like that answer, so we had her hearing checked." Edge realized she had potential to be good when she won a state meet at age 10. "There was this really fast swimmer," she said. "I finally beat her. "I've really made a lot of improvement this year. Coach Winslow has made me a lot better." After a while, it's easy to forget about Edge's hearing loss, until the Natatorium acoustics once again kick in. "As long as she remains in line of sight," Winslow said. "I can communicate with her from across the pool." The talent has not yet been used to read opposing coaches. "We haven't used it yet, but we might," Winslow said with a laugh.
Freshman Natalie Edge is not distracted by her hearing impairment
By Martin Renzhofer The Salt Lake Tribune
Even without spectators the Ute Natatorium is crazy noisy, as sound bounces off walls and water making communication difficult. It's even tougher for Utah's freshman swimmer Natalie Edge, who concentrates on reading lips - eyes focused on mouth. Even born with at best 50 percent hearing, the South Jordan native remains relaxed and confident. She's a recruiting gem for first-year coach Greg Winslow. "We were fortunate to get Natalie," said Winslow, a former Arizona State assistant who was hired to replace Michael Litzinger, now an assistant swimming coach at North Carolina. "She's definitely a confident student athlete; soft-spoken, but when she speaks people listen." When asked about Edge's disability, Winslow just smiles: "It's not, really. " A high school All-American at Kearns High, Edge, one of Rick and Victoria's five children, would rather talk swimming than the barely noticeable hearing aids she has been wearnig since age 4. "Natalie is one of those people who doesn't let that stuff get to her," said Stephanie Fredsall, Edge's roommate, teammate and childhood friend. "It's like, 'Oh, whatever.' " Edge, a sprinter on the Utah swim team that is heading to Oklahoma City on Wednesday for the Mountain West Conference championships, has a good chance at qualifying for the
NCAA Championships in the 100-meter freestyle. "I'm more agile in the water," said Edge, who churns through the water with her powerful, muscular strokes. "I'm clumsy on land. It's just you and the water." Edge graduated from Kearns last year as the state champion in the 50, 100 and 200 relay events. She also held the nation's second fastest 50-meter time. Winslow says Edge has star potential. The biggest challenge Edge faces at Utah is making sure she hears the alarm for 5 a.m. practices. "[Hearing loss] doesn't really affect me," Edge said. "I can't hear background noises. It's not too much of a pain." Rick Edge, who played football for Utah in 1971-72, didn't immediately catch on to his daughter's hearing problems, which are categorized as moderate to severe. However, Edge wasn't talking like a typical child. "Her being the baby, we didn't pick up on it," he said. "A doctor told us that if it continues when she entered kindergarten we should look into it. I didn't like that answer, so we had her hearing checked." Edge realized she had potential to be good when she won a state meet at age 10. "There was this really fast swimmer," she said. "I finally beat her. "I've really made a lot of improvement this year. Coach Winslow has made me a lot better." After a while, it's easy to forget about Edge's hearing loss, until the Natatorium acoustics once again kick in. "As long as she remains in line of sight," Winslow said. "I can communicate with her from across the pool." The talent has not yet been used to read opposing coaches. "We haven't used it yet, but we might," Winslow said with a laugh.
Congrats Nat and Good Luck at Conference This Week!
2 comments:
Thanks for posting this! Nat is great!
We have such a cool sister. I like how this article de-stressed the hearing loss as trauma and played it like it is. Life.
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