Soccer, swimming runs in the family for Seymour senior

February 8, 2019

Daniel Hartman has enjoyed being a part of the soccer and swimming programs at Seymour for several reasons.

He has had three sisters and a brother play one or both of those sports at the school dating back to 2008, and has a younger sister who plays both and will be a senior at SHS next year.

“It’s a family tradition for us. I like how every (swim) meet my family is always there cheering for me, or every soccer match they’re cheering me on,” Hartman said.

Hartman’s main events in swimming this winter are the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. He said he will swim those events and probably the 200 free and 400 free relays at sectional.

His favorite event is the butterfly.

“I like the 100 butterfly, mostly because I’m good at it, I think,” Hartman said. “A lot of people think it’s really hard, but to me it’s all about rhythm and technique, so I don’t think it’s really that hard.”

Todd Bollinger holds the school record at: 52.09, and Hartman said he hopes to lower the mark at sectional.

Hartman enjoys swimming the freestyle relays.

“I enjoy just being on the team. I swim my fastest when I’m on the relays because I don’t want to let the guys down,” Hartman said. “I feel we have a really good 200 freestyle relay”

On the schedule, he looks forward to the home meets and postseason.

“It’s really great to see all those people come out and support the swim team,” Hartman said. “Swimming all those yards, and all those hours, it all leads up to the sectional. We always have great drops because of the training we do, the energy we have at sectionals. We should have a really good meet.”

Hartman has seen more than one benefit from swimming.

“Swimming has really helped me in soccer, too. It’s gotten me a lot stronger than most of the soccer players, and keeps me in shape,” he said.

Hartman said he especially enjoyed his soccer teammates.

“I love being part of a team, and whenever I’m part of a team I don’t want to let anybody down so I feel like I should try harder if I’m on a team,” Hartman said. “Teamwork and communication are very important in soccer because if we had good chemistry and we played well together we could score. I feel we were really good at that because we’re all friends, we hang out at school and eat lunch together.

“This senior class really stepped up, especially this year, and winning conference and going undefeated, we all stepped up together.”

Hartman was a two-year captain in both soccer and swimming .

Every chance he gets, Hartman tries to give back to the community.

“To have a winning program, I feel comes from our youth programs,” Hartman said. “We’ve got to get people interested in soccer, and they just keep playing and getting better, and then they can play high school ball. That’s happened with our (class). We started off playing together around 10 years old, and we’ve been playing ever since.”

Hartman said there is no substitute for hard work.

“I feel the most important thing, and anything in life it’s the hard work you put in,” he said. “Practice is very important because you’ve got to get better. The more you practice, the better you’ll get, and you’ve got to be comfortable. If you practice enough you’ll be comfortable on the field, on the ball and all those things.

“If you don’t believe you’re going to win, you’re probably not going to win, so you’ve got to go into the mind frame thinking that you’re going to win this game. Even if you get down one, that’s all right because you still have tons of time to get back up.”

He enjoyed attending SHS.

“We’ve got really good teachers here,” Hartman said. “I feel they’re really preparing me for the AP (advanced placement) test coming up soon, or help me get the dual credit I need. My teachers and coaches have had an impact on my life and made me who I am.”

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Name: Daniel Hartman

High school: Seymour

Parents: Robert and Alice Hartman

Siblings: Jordan, Lillie, Grace, Elizabeth

Sports: swimming 4 years, soccer 4 years

Athletic highlights: soccer- school record career goals (66), 2x time MVP, 3x time outstanding offensive player, 2x time all-HHC, 2x time all-district, 2x time academic all-state, 2x time HHC champions; swimming- 2x 110 percent award.

Organizations: band, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, dance marathon

Plans after high school: attend University of Southern Indiana, study exercise science, play soccer

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