By Kate Aitchison
On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9th and 10th, the Alabama swim team traveled down to Auburn to compete.
This meet was the final meet of the season for the swimmers in attendance, and the final meet of seniors
Gracie Felner and Isabelle Matesa.
“Obviously we didn’t have a full roster at this meet but I think those 13 swimmers that came, including
Gracie and Belle, all had great showing outs and represented Alabama in a really good way,” said coach
Mike White.
Felner rounded up her last meet with a time of 23.93 in the 50 yard freestyle, 54.98 in the 100 yard
butterfly, and a 2:07.19 in the 200 yard butterfly.
“It was a hard meet for me because I didn’t meet my goals this year coming out of surgery in August, but
it was a much smaller group that actually was all the people we loved coming. We were able to bond a lot
more with the group that we had and it was just one of my favorite meets of all time.”
She had a long career swimming that she dedicated 20 years of her life to. She had talent that was able to
be fostered, leading to her final season.
“I started dipping my toes in at two years old. At age five and six I started doing speedy sixers which is
where you start swimming full lengths of the pool. I was actually really good at it so at age seven my
mom put me in club swim and that’s where I never stopped,” said Felner.
Matesa finished her final meet with a time of 23.65 in the 50 yard freestyle, a 1:51.57 in the 200 yard
freestyle, and a 52.20 in the 100 yard freestyle. Her father got her involved with swimming at 5 years old
because he was a colligate swimmer. She started swimming competitively at the age of 12 and continued
to improve though high school, before committing to The University of Alabama.
“The main part was the facilities and the staff. It was just out of this world compared to the other schools
that I visited. The surrounding community with football and the campus also drew me to this school,” said
Matesa.
Felner said she chose Alabama for similar reasons. When she got here she struggled with juggling the
independence for swimming and school, and performing well in all of them without support. She found
this support through swim.
“I had a really good coach, James Barber. He always let me rant to him, but then we always talked about
the goals at the end of the meeting. We just looked at the next steps instead of the whole season at once
which was really helpful. He was so supportive not just in but out of the water too which really helped me
get to my senior year,” said Felner.
Matesa and Felner said how important it is to be good leaders. White confirmed that they show up and
demonstrate leadership to the younger classes, setting them up for success.
“Both of those girls have done a great job at being leaders with Gracie being a captain and Belle always
being a positive influence on the rest of the group. They were an important piece of the program with a lot of moving parts over the last few years,” said White.
The senior class went through several coaching changes over the past 4 years, which Felner and Matesa
said was the hardest thing they had to go through in their swimming career. Persisting through those years gave them a unique perspective on leadership.
“We definitely had a hierarchy in the team for the first three years we were here, so up until our junior
year we got to learn exactly what kind of leadership styles people prefer. I think that is what made us such
great leaders this year and that is why we had the most fun this year because the team gets along the most this year,” said Felner. “Even though the last three years have been harder for us, we were able to learn and grow from what people have done in the past.”
Student athletes at Alabama are involved in student enhancement which gives them resources during and
post college. All of the athletes have this community to set them up for success while helping them
manage their time as a student.
“I think being able to be immersed in the athletic student enhancement community has brought different
connections, like Joe Hawley, connected me with a lawyer here where I got an unpaid internship where I
could gain experience either in the courtroom or behind the scenes working with cases. I wouldn’t have
found that experience without being a part of athletics and swimming,” said Matesa.
This connection directly benefits Matesa’s post graduation plan, as she will be going to law school. The
people she met through Alabama swimming helped shape her experience, and continue to.
“My time at Alabama has been really special from the connections that I have made with people on the
team, but also realizing that swimming brought us together. There are so many more opportunities that
Alabama brought me so I couldn’t imagine myself going anywhere else,” said Matesa.
Felner majored in public health with a minor in sales. She will working for Cintas in a management
position. This opportunity came from Matesa, as these girls have been close friends and roomates since
freshman year.
“My time here at Alabama has flown by. People told me it would go by in the blink of an eye and they
were right. All I can say is cherish your moments because they will last forever.”
The University of Alabama has given these two seniors a place to grow and learn physically,
academically, and mentally. They will step into the first phase in their life that doesnt involve swimming
with tools they have picked up through their experience.
