The first Tuesday of each month, we interview someone from Charlotte Latin Athletics with twenty questions to help the CLS community get to know some of our athletes, coaches, and supporters a bit better.
 
Our February feature is on seventh grade student Harrison Smith, who picked two of the most demanding sports offered at Charlotte Latin and competed in them both, in the same season, while also training with SwimMAC and maintaining Honor Roll status in school. If that seems like a lot for one person, it is. Read on to find out why he wanted to try it, how he managed it all, and whether Harrison thinks the experience is worth repeating.  
 
1. Tell us about your family.  
It's my mom (Erin), dad (Michael), and sister, Karlin. She's in tenth grade. Both of my parents are doctors, so I usually get a ride home with someone in high school, but Karlin just had her sixteenth birthday and she's driving now. We have a golden retriever named Bogey, who just turned five. He's a little too happy sometimes.  
 
2. Who is Bogey's favorite?
I'm his best playmate, but he loves Mom the most.
 
3. How would you describe your family relationships?
Karlin and I have always been like best friends and she's always been there for me. There are days that we don't get along, like all siblings, but we're close. My family is super competitive but there's always a balance between being funny and competing. My mom is really caring and super supportive. My dad has always been funny. We goof around a lot and play golf and ping pong together. I am going to look exactly like my dad, which is kind of crazy. We don't look a lot alike right now, but our bodies and the way we walk and talk is exactly the same. I saw a picture of him at my age playing baseball and it was scary how much it looked like me.
 
4. You've been at Latin since kindergarten. Who have been some of your favorite teachers so far?
In Lower School, I loved Mrs. Reese. She told us stories and made it dramatic. I always love the teachers that are funny but are actually teaching you something. Mr. Wolfe is great. I liked my science teacher a lot too – Mrs. Banda, who was also my advisor. This year, I like Mr. Fullwood. He's a great teacher and a basketball coach. And who doesn't like Mr. Butt in speech and debate because he's funny.
 
5. Was swimming your first sport, or did you try other things?
I remember playing T-ball. I played all the sports. I have pictures playing soccer together with Henry Lilly '29 and Sam Morgan '29 because were always close since we were little. I remember my dad playing pump-up AC/DC songs for our basketball team and leaving the gym after games and it being freezing cold outside. Calvary had baseball in the spring, basketball in the winter, and flag football in the summer. I would do all of them even if I was terrible, and I would get too competitive and do things like spike the football. My coach would get so mad at me and I wasn't used to getting in trouble so I learned how to calm down and be a good sport.
 
6. When did swimming become your main focus?
I did summer league because Karlin was in it, but I could barely swim across the pool and had to pull on the lane line. Mom took a video when I finally made it across the pool and they were so happy. Then I took lessons and learned how to do all the strokes. Then I did JSL (SwimMAC's Junior Swim League), which wasn't competitive but you'd do a meet every now and then. I did that for a season and then tried out for MAC because Karlin loves it and has made so many close friends through it. I was so happy when I made it and I called Karlin to tell her.
 
7. Were your parents swimmers?
My parents had no swimming experience and Dad didn't know how to swim. He could tread water and stay alive but I taught him how to swim the strokes. I taught him how to do butterfly, but it's not the prettiest.
 
8. So what about wrestling? Was that all Mr. Wolfe's influence?
Dad was a wrestler. I think he could've wrestled in college, but he wanted to pursue a medical career. He got into wrestling because his dad wrestled at App State. He was really good. And Dad's brother also wrestled. Mr. Wolfe did hint in sixth grade as the year went on. He'd say, "Hey, wrestling is coming up. Let me know if you're interested." It's not a big deal in sixth grade because it's mostly just practices. Dad said it would be a good experience and most of my friends were doing it. I really enjoyed it. It was fun to learn a new sport that I hadn't considered doing. I kind of got the hang of it at the end of the year, so when Coach Wolfe and Coach Paige would tell me during P.E. that I had a good practice match, that made me feel great and made me want to compete.
 
9. This year, you were a dual-roster athlete competing for the Hawks in both wrestling and swimming. That seems challenging enough, but you are also a member of SwimMAC's competitive team, which is usually an everyday commitment. What was your sports schedule this winter?
It was very complicated and I honestly don't know how I did it. I started off going to all of the wrestling practices, right after school, but I had to leave early on Tuesday and Thursday to go to my weight room session with SwimMAC. My practices there are 7-9 on Monday and Wednesday, 4:45-7:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Friday is 5:15-7:15. Saturday is terrible because it's so early and it's really long. I think it's like 6:45-9:00. And Sunday is another two-hour practice. Any time I had a wrestling match or a Latin swim meet, I'd see if I had time to go to (SwimMAC) practice after.
 
10. That's a lot to juggle. Were you worried about making it all work?   
I almost didn't do Middle School swim. About a week before the season started, I hadn't committed to anything and my mom started asking me what I wanted to do while we were in the car. Karlin was with us and she told me I had to do Latin swim and it could work since I only had to go to meets. (Editor's note: Year-round swimmers train with their club teams but join their school teammates for meets and team events.) Coach Thomsen (the MS Swimming head coach) and Coach Wolfe (the MS Wrestling head coach) talked about it too and worked together to make it possible. My year-round coach, Russ (Kasl), was especially helpful. He was on board with everything and he actually thought I was going to miss practice more than I did, but he supported me.
 
11. Now that the season is over, what did you think about it?    
I would get so burned out some days. I moved up to the 13-14 year old group (at SwimMAC), so the practices are a lot harder. I'm glad I had a year of Middle School to see how things work before I got into this training group. There were days I had to stay up late to get my homework done and sometimes I would get really anxious or start feeling worried. But I felt like if I didn't do wrestling, I never would've gotten to try another Middle School sport. I wanted to see how it felt to be nervous before a match and compete against other schools and see how I could do. I had a great season – only losing one match out of my six – but next year, I think I'm just going to do Middle School swimming and club swimming. I'm glad I tried it, but it was a lot of stress. My mom and everyone were so helpful during this and I would not have been able to do it without my family.
 
12. What differences have you noticed between swimming for Latin and swimming with your club team? 
At club meets, there's much more rest between events so I have to think a lot about fueling myself and planning what to eat and when to eat to have energy through the meet. Latin meets go by fast and the events are shorter. I'm more of a 200 (yard) swimmer than a 50 swimmer. School swim was really supportive and it was great to meet a lot of new people. I had no idea who some of the eighth graders were and I got to make new friends. I always had a lot of people cheering me on, but we didn't have anywhere near as many people as the high school does. I've been at some of the varsity meets and it was super cool to see everyone wearing Latin gear, standing all along the edge of the pool and cheering. The atmosphere at those meets is a lot louder and crazier.
 
13. How would you advise a friend who was considering trying the Latin wrestling or swimming teams?
For swimming, even though I'm a competitive swimmer, I would say you don't have to have much experience to have a place on the team and it's a great way to make friends. Wrestling is an important commitment, but if you want to get stronger and have something to work on and look forward to, it would be great for you.
 
14. Now that your schedule has lightened up a little, what do you like to do in your free time?
If I have any extra time, I'll go play golf with my dad. We'll go play 18. I feel like I'm pretty good at golf even though I don't get to play as much as some people do.
 
15. Alright, let's finish up with some fun questions. What is your favorite sport to watch in person?  
Definitely football. I'm a huge Steelers fan. I've only been to one game in Pittsburg, though. My mom grew up there. I like going to Panthers games too, but it's hard to have fun there right now.
 
16. What's your favorite holiday and why?
Christmas. I like seeing all of my family and the food isn't like Thanksgiving food, which I'm not a fan of. Also, I like opening presents and it's the longest break.
 
17. What's the best vacation you've been on?
I loved going to Grand Cayman. We went there pretty recently and did a coral reef tour and scuba diving and played in the pool. I'm more of a pool than a beach person, but the clear water in Grand Cayman was incredible.
 
18.  If you could have one super power, what would you choose? 
Probably to fly. I hate traffic. I have the shortest attention span. That or super strength.
 
19. Who is a sports figure you admire? 
Michael Phelps, because he didn't have much growing up but he found swimming and used that to be successful in life.  
 
20. And last but not least, what's your favorite sports movie?
Rocky. Any of them. It puts you in a good mood and makes you feel like you want to go do something.