Michael Boutwell is not your average swimmer.
"My favorite food would definitely be steak." Says Boutwell.
Thats the kinda diet you would expect an offensive lineman to have, not a lean mean swimming machine.
"A lot of times we'll be at a meet, and we'll have time in between sessions and he will. He'll go some place and get a nice fat hamburger, cheeseburger, or dinner time we'll sit down and have a steak. And yeah it works for him, and I'm not messing with it." Says Tag Grove, Handley Swim Coach.
What ever the formula is, its been working. Michael has placed in the state championship meet three straight years and is just a talented in the class room. With a four point five GPA, he a two time High School swimming scholastic All-American and now he is looking to make similar leaps in college.
"I'm not quite sure where I want to go to college right now. I'm keeping my options open, but i definitely want to major in biology. I'm not quite sure where I want to go with it, but it is always been interesting to me." Says Boutwell.
He's also interested in continuing his swimming at the next level and his coach believes the sky's the limit.
" He's on a good cycle, because four years from now, when he's a senior in college, it'll be Olympic trials. So that timing may work out real well for him." Says Coach Grove.
He even had the chance to swim against Olympic gold medalist, Aaron Peirsol, and was right on his heels.
"We had a clinic for swimming and he came to our pool and was teaching different techniques. He actually had some races, and i don't know I was like a body length behind him." Says Boutwell.
Along with balancing school and swimming, Michael does find time for friends and even a little guitar hero.
"Well I play hard songs. I've gotten past medium, but I only get like eighty percent on them. I haven't really committed myself to guitar hero, but it's a lot of fun." Says Boutwell.
Congratulation Michael Boutwell of Handley High School. TV3 Winchesters Student Athlete of The Week.