The following is a press release courtesy of Miami University:
Collett Awarded Robin Chico Award
Senior Courtney Collett receives special honor at banquet
OXFORD, Ohio–Senior Courtney Collett was awarded the Robin Chico Award at the women’s swimming and diving banquet, an honor given to a senior student-athlete who has shown strength and motivation during times of challenge and adversity.
Collett is a sports leadership and management major from Hilton Head Island, S.C. She was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Academic team last week. She will be attending Ohio State next fall to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition. Collett was a four-year letterwinner for the RedHawks and was a member of the 2013 MAC Championship team. She scored at the MAC Championships her freshman, sophomore and junior years.
Collett was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 12. She attended a special sport specific high school to swim and to closely monitor what she could and could not eat as a result of her disease.
She received a scholarship to swim for the RedHawks and swam well in college during her freshman and sophomore years, but during her junior year, her body negatively reacted to swimming.
“It became hard for me to swim for the full practice without my blood sugar becoming dangerously low, where I would then have to get out for at least 20 minutes and eat sugar to bring it back up. Sometimes this would happen twice during practice and really disrupted my training,” Collett stated.
She ended up scoring points in the MAC Championships her junior year, but she decided that she would take a look at her health from a long-term standpoint. Coming into her senior season, Collett discovered that her diabetes would not let her swim as much as she wanted. She decided that she would swim half the time, and help the team in other ways when she wasn’t in the pool.
Courtney competed in the Ohio Senior Championships, the last meet of her career for the RedHawks. She swam the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:52.90, which was her fastest time since her sophomore year.
“I think that I won the award because even though doctors told me that I shouldn’t swim, I figured out a way that I could still watch my health and swim at the same time,” said Collett. “It may not have been what I wanted but I helped the team out in other ways than just in the water, and for this I am thankful that my coach has been able to support me through it all.”
The Robin Chico Award is presented to a graduating senior from the Miami University women’s swimming and diving team for representing the university and swimming program well during times of compelling adversity.
The Robin Chico Award was established in 2010 by Miami University alumni to recognize former varsity swimmer Robin Chico (1975-1978), who overcame hardships during the early stages of Title IX, which later became law in 1972. The previous winners are Jenna Long (2010), Ellen Barhorst (2013) and Brianna Fujan (2014).
Chico joined the Miami University women’s swimming and diving team in 1975 and was ranked among the top 25 best butterfly swimmers in the world. As a freshman, she qualified for the National Collegiate Championship with five of her teammates. Chico had been seeded second in the nation in the 100 yard butterfly, and her seed time was the third fastest time at that year’s nationals.
She set records in the 100 and 200 yard fly, the 200 and 400 yard individual medleys, and the 200, 1000 and 1650 freestyles. Throughout her four years at Miami, she was undefeated in every individual event she competed in during the regular-season dual meets and was the Mid-American Conference champion in each individual contest she raced. Chico’s outstanding individual performance led her team to a 23-3 dual meet record throughout her four years at Miami.
Great job! A blueprint for success!
So proud to call this young lady my daughter! Being a distanced swimmer at a division 1 school has always been her dream. With adversity comes strength!! In addition to swimming, she has excelled in her academics and has been named to the Mid-American Conference All-Academic Team each year. She also holds a South Carolina state record in the 1650 free. All this while managing her type 1 diabetes. Extraordinary!