Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy: Smart Swimmer is Dartmouth Bound

After many years of dreaming of swimming for an Ivy League college, senior Katie Altmayer has committed to do just that at Dartmouth College this fall. She was in contact with several Ivies including Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Cornell as well as Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt before she ultimately made the decision to attend Dartmouth.

After many years of dreaming of swimming for an Ivy League college, senior Katie Altmayer has committed to do just that at Dartmouth College this fall. She was in contact with several Ivies including Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Cornell as well as Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt before she ultimately made the decision to attend Dartmouth.

Altmayer looks forward to possibly getting involved in the Greek life and taking advantage of the study-abroad programs at Dartmouth. Many Div. I colleges do not allow their student athletes to be involved in those types of extracurricular activities, which is another reason why Altmayer chose Dartmouth.

Dartmouth also offers student-athletes access to private trainers, free tutors and athletic gear. The coaches understand that the swimmers are students as well as athletes, which was important to Altmayer when she looked at coaching staffs.

She first began swimming for Oakmont Country Club when she was 6 years old. In fourth grade, she started to swim for the Rose Bowl Aquatic team, where she continues to swim today.

Indeed, she practices at the Rose Bowl for 21 hours every week, all year long except for three weeks in August and a few days at Christmas.

Altmayer has managed to succeed in her academics despite all of the work her athletic life demands. She has a cumulative GPA of 4.32, boasts a 2120 SAT and a 34 ACT. She has received first honors since her freshman year, and was named an Athlete of the Year during her sophomore and junior years.

“It has definitely been a challenge balancing everything and there are definitely sacrifices that I have had to make over the years,” said Altmayer. “I had to remind myself of what my goals were when I had to make hard decisions.”

At club meets, Altmayer swims freestyle and butterfly, and participates in freestyle and medley relays. At FSHA meets, she swims the 100 butterfly, participates in relays and sprints mid-distance freestyle.

In previous years on the Hill, she set the record for the 100 and 200 freestyle, and the 100 butterfly as well as being on three record-breaking relays. She has also been a Mission League champion on several relays and a few individual events.

Her favorite memory of swimming at FSHA was when she and her fellow teammates won CIF in the 200 medley relay last year.

At Junior Nationals last year, she qualified for the finals in the 50 butterfly. She also made the top three and top eight with her teammates in several relays. She hopes she will be as successful next year in New Hampshire when she swims for Dartmouth.