Editor's Note: This is the third in a five-part series regarding individuals who are being inducted Friday into the Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame.
Many great swimmers have come to Ohio and have set records and won championships. But few female swimmers have risen among the ranks of the nation's best like Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Lisa MacNicol Mitchell.
In the eyes of former Ohio swimming coach Scott Hammond, not many Ohio athletes can claim the individual and team success that Mitchell can.
In Lisa
you've got a kid who's won 21 conference championships and was honorable mention All-American said Hammond, who coached her in 1994-1995.
Those credentials are really tough to beat in any other sport at Ohio. She's very deserving of the honor.
Both of Mitchell's coaches count her as one of the greatest athletes to ever come through the Ohio swimming and diving program. Current swimming and diving coach Greg Werner said it was her desire and work ethic that set her apart.
She was very competitive very driven and focused
said Werner, who nominated Mitchell for induction and was her coach in 1996 and 1997. She really liked to win no matter what it was in.
And she did win -
and she competed like a champ
Hammond said. She rose to a nice level and performed like you want everyone to perform at their first NCAA Championship.
That race might have been the only championship Mitchell did not win that year. A swimmer named Jenny Thompson, famous for her eight Olympic gold medals, got one of her five NCAA titles that year in the 100 fly.
Mitchell did finish in the top 16, good enough for honorable mention
All-American status, but instead of boasting about the accomplishments, she gave credit to the people who backed her.
Because swimming is such a time consuming sport
I couldn't have done it without the support around me
Mitchell said.
That support included both coaches and the teammates she relied on over four years as well as her family.
I responded well to both styles of training -
Mitchell said. I wasn't burned out or over-trained
which benefited me in that I could keep climbing instead of hitting a plateau.
A change of focus
Since graduating six years ago with a magazine journalism degree, Mitchell's life has changed dramatically. She now works as the Vice President Account Supervisor at Leo Burnett, a high-profile, fast paced advertising agency in Chicago.
Surprisingly, Mitchell said her time as an Ohio swimmer taught her valuable skills that she uses when working with McDonald's International, Crayola and ABC Television.
Through the dedication of the swimmers and the team atmosphere at Ohio
I learned how to deal with people
