By Ember McElrath

Altus High School sophomore, Natalie Flynt, might be a young athlete, but that doesn’t stop her from giving it her all and already making a great impression on her coaches. She is a member of the swim team as well as a member of National Honor Society and holds the third chair flute position in the band.

“Swimming competitively means everything to me,” said Natalie. “It has connected me with so many great people, taught me discipline, how to make goals and reach them, and I just feel so at peace whenever I’m in the pool.” 

Getting her start in swimming before she was even in school, her mom put her in swim lessons and at first, she was not a fan of the water. She now happily calls the pool her second home. 

Setting and achieving goals is what keeps this fish swimming. 

“My goals really keep me going whenever I get unmotivated,” said Natalie. “I have screenshots in my phone of my goal times and whenever I see them it makes me want it so much more.”

Not only is Natalie competing against others, but she is always trying to push herself to be the best she can be.

“The feeling of getting a new best time never gets old,” said Natalie. 

Growing up Natalie had a different childhood than most. 

“As part of a military family, I’ve moved around my whole life, never living in one place for longer than three years,” said Natalie. “As much of a struggle that is, I’ve been grateful to live in some amazing place like Japan and Washington D.C.”

After high school Natalie plans to swim in college either in California or Florida as she loves the beach and wants to be near the water and eventually earning an engineering degree. Natalie said she would love to work for Disney one day.