David Nolan has gone from chubby to champion swimmer

David Nolan is able to laugh about it now. He can.

The Hershey senior is the nation's best swimmer in his age group. He arrived at his lofty status through diligence, commitment and a certain steely attitude.

Because, you see, Nolan at one time had what could be perceived, by some, as the worst of it. When he first began swimming, Nolan was a heavy kid, with his bulbous round belly that drooped over his Speedo swimsuit. Swimming came as a way for the Nolans to help their son lose his butterball shape.

"Yep, that was me, a little fat kid in a Speedo," says David today with a hearty laugh. "I was fat all over — I was a tank. I did get made fun of by other kids, but you know something, it's not something that fired me up for practice or in meets. What I took more offense to was other kids would make fun of the sport of swimming and that it wasn't too cool or anything like that. I remember getting picked on in sixth grade moreso for swimming than how I looked outside the pool. That's what stuck with me. I got made fun of for swimming more and I took it out in the water. Those kids went their own way … and I went mine."

So, Nolan did something with swimming. He made himself the best. The best ever in Pennsylvania. The best in the country. The best.

Nolan's so good that he's earned a full swimming scholarship to Stanford, will graduate Hershey as a seven-time Pennsylvania state champion (13 golds including relays), and in winning four golds in the 2011 PIAA Class AAA state championship, Nolan established three National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) records in the 100-meter backstroke (45.49 seconds), 200 individual medley (1:41.39) and 100 freestyle (42.34), as the lead-off leg of Hershey's championship 400 freestyle relay.

Nolan is such a fantastic swimmer, far beyond his years, that his 1:41.39 in the Pennsylvania state 200 IM would have won this year's NCAA national championship, out-swimming future Stanford teammate Austin Staab, who won the 200 IM NCAA title in 1:41.57 in Minneapolis.

Nolan's high school times blow away the high school times of legendary Michael Phelps and fellow Olympian Ryan Lochte.

Nolan is 6-2, 185 pounds today, though he looks heavier than that, more like a high school linebacker, thanks to a strict weight-training regiment. He's been swimming competitively since he was 7, but didn't really blossom until he turned 13. Before smashing national records, Nolan was a competitive swimmer that showed promise.

Greg Fastrich has been Nolan's coach since he began swimming. He saw how quickly Nolan grasped the strokes, and how well he floated in the water. As Nolan got older, the soft middle grew hard, and the times fell. Nolan began beating the elite local swimmers that once beat him – and Nolan was doing it easily.

"He's certainly not the little kid that I first came across," Fastrich said. "I thought Dave was good then, when he began swimming. But when he got older, and bigger, that was the difference. He started to get an idea of just how good he could be, and started committing more time to swimming and in becoming better."

But to be a swimmer, especially a highly competitive swimmer like Nolan, those athletes have to buy into a rigid lifestyle, almost unlike any other for a high school athlete. A typical day for Nolan is getting up at 5:15 every morning to get to practice by 5:50 for a working workout that consists of running and lifting.

Then, after school, Nolan will swim every day from around 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. He'll swim roughly the length of seven football fields. He'll swim on Christmas Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Day. It doesn't matter.

"I set my standards high and I like to keep a positive attitude about everything," Nolan said. "I know the mental fatigue swimming can have on you. I see what it's done to other [high school] swimmers. Mental fatigue is a big challenge, so when I'm outside the pool, I don't think about swimming that much. Always being positive in this sport is not an easy thing. I keep thinking it's something you always have to do if you want to achieve greatness."

Nolan wants to achieve greatness. Though he is denying himself one thing these days: He's already qualified for the 2012 Unites States Olympic Trials next year, but he refuses to let himself think or wander off about London, site of the 2012 Olympics, just yet.

"I can't do it, or more so, I won't do it. I want to go to London, I want to compete for my country, but I won't visualize myself in London, I can't," Nolan said. "Believe me, I want to picture that real bad. I do. But I want to work my way towards it. I want to take it one step at a time and not get too ahead of myself. The picture of me at the London Olympics is what's motivating me now."

And somewhere deeper within, you can't help but think of a chubby little kid inside Nolan with a medal around his neck sitting on a swim club bench with chocolate all over his cheeks and a beaming, bright smile.

Joseph Santoliquito can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.