University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Dakota Luther
September 27, 2019 | Swimming & Diving, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
A little more than three years before Georgia swimmer Dakota Luther was born, her mother had some very memorable days and nights in a pool about 60 miles away from Gabrielsen Natatorium. Moments that still resonate in the Bulldog sophomore's life.
During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Whitney Hedgepeth capped a great swimming career with a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and individual silvers in the 100 and 200 backstrokes. Hedgepeth has since gone on to a great coaching career in Austin, Texas, and her daughter is a rising star for the Bulldogs and USA Swimming.
During a Quick Chat before practice last week, Luther said she watches clips of her mom competing in Atlanta and finds her success inspiring. Luther, whose specialty is the butterfly, also talked about competing at the Olympic Trials at age 16, her knitting skills and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:Â
Frierson: What was the best or most interesting part of your summer?
Luther: I went home, so that was nice, and was able to gather myself. I also got to represent the U.S. at the World University Games in Italy, in Naples, and that was a really fun experience.
Frierson: Did Italy grab you the way it grabs so many of us, because of the beauty and the culture and the food?
Luther: The food was good but I actually didn't get to see that much of the city because I swam just about every day — but we stayed on a cruise ship, so that was cool.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there something creative you do or wish you could do?
Luther: I've always admired the people on "The Voice" and things like that, people that can sing. I can knit, that's about the most creative thing I can do. [Laughs.]
Frierson: Really? That's certainly creative; so what do you knit?
Luther: I don't do it as much anymore, but I did it a little this summer to de-stress. Scarves are pretty easy to make.
Frierson: What's the most ambitious thing you've knitted? Has there been something big that you've taken on?
Luther: I helped my grandmother knit a sweater. She was doing it for kids in Afghanistan and that was cool.
Frierson: I don't think a lot of people realize just how big these men's and women's swimming and diving teams are — combined they're like a football team. How long does it take to get to know everyone on a team this big?
Luther: I'm pretty good with names so I can catch on pretty fast, but I know it takes some of the seniors a while to learn all the freshmen's names and everything.
Frierson: What do you know now about swimming, school or life in general that you wish you'd known a year ago at this time?
Luther: I'd say I've grown up a lot in the last year for sure. Balancing swimming and academics is hard; I think I'd learn how to set up my schedule where I can still get a nap (before the afternoon swim).
Swimming's very important to me, so I set up a lot of my classes to where I knew I could have a good practice on the right days, or have the right professors using Rate My Professor — I figured that out second semester last year. [Laughs.]
Frierson: Your mom was obviously a fantastic swimmer and had some big moments just about an hour from here back before you were born, at the Atlanta Olympics. How many times have you watched her races on YouTube?
Luther: I think I found it on YouTube before she did. [Laughs.] I was showing it to her a few weeks ago, pointing out something in her stroke, and she was like, "Yeah?" I've watched it a lot.
It's a lot of fun to watch her excel like that.
Frierson: How much did her involvement and success in swimming lead you to where you are today? Or did you mostly find your own path the whole way?
Luther: She made me try everything, every sport; I think she knew how hard swimming was and wanted me to see if I wanted to do other stuff. That's why I know how to knit, she sent me to knitting camp.
Ultimately, swimming was the only thing I was good at and I fell in love with it around age 12, when I was starting to get a little better. She's helped me create my own path, for sure. She's like my biggest cheerleader and has helped me to dream big. You never know what you're capable of until you try.
Frierson: When you have an incredibly demanding sport like swimming, where you're spending so much time in the pool and there are no shortcuts to success, it probably helped to have a mom to really lay it all out for you early on.
Luther: Oh, yeah, for sure. We talk swimming a good amount and she actually gave me a good idea for a set (to swim in practice) a few weeks ago. I was talking to her on the phone and she said, "If you can do this set I know you can make the Olympic team." I was like, "Okay!" [Laughs.]
Frierson: What was it like to be competing at the Olympic Trials at age 16? Was it just pure joy because you're a 16-year-old with no pressure or did you go believing you had a shot at making the team?
Luther: I definitely didn't think I could make the team; I guess I was just there for the experience. I was kind of naive and not really aware of all the stuff around me. I definitely wanted to semifinal, that was my goal going in, and I got 17th (one spot out of making a semifinal).
I think it was the best thing that's ever happened to me, though. It really set me up for the next year and even now.
Frierson: How much of this year is thinking about making the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics, which begin in about 10 months?
Luther: A lot — I think it crosses my mind every day, which is scary. A few weeks ago I was setting up my schedule for next semester so it'd be my easiest and I could keep my head on straight. I try not to put too much pressure on myself because I guess I could go in 2024, too, but it's really an honor to be able to compete for that spot.
(In 2017, Luther qualified for the U.S. squad in the 200-meter butterfly for the World Championships, placing second at the Trials behind former Georgia great Hali Flickinger. Luther reached the semis at Worlds, placing 15th.)
Frierson: How much of your decision to come to Georgia was based on how many Olympians have come out of this pool and still training in this pool every day?
Luther: When I was deciding on schools, I wasn't sure I could make it. It was that summer I made the World Championships team and I was like, Georgia wants to recruit me and they have so many Olympians. Looking back, it's definitely the best decision I've made.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Luther: Trader Joe's has these veggie burgers that I'm obsessed with right now, they're so good. [Laughs.] I feel like that and bananas, bananas are my staple.
Frierson: Is the morning swim the hardest because you're getting up before the sun or is the afternoon harder because you've already had a full day by the time you have to get back in the pool?
Luther: For the most part, afternoons for me are the hardest. It's our main practice, the hardest one, and it kind of weighs on you all day. I don't mind the morning practice because I'm a morning person.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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