Giving up on baseball right before the start of his final high school season was hard for Michael Couet — but when the top collegiate men’s swimming program in America came calling, the Franklin senior had little choice but to listen.
Following a breakout season in the pool that culminated with a second-place state finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, Couet recently gave a verbal commitment to swim at the University of Texas, which heads into this weekend’s NCAA championships having won the last three national titles.
Getting an offer from the Longhorns was the culmination of a crazy few months for Couet, who hadn’t been receiving any Division I college attention at all before his incredible senior season. After finishing 14th in the state in the breaststroke, Couet shaved nearly three and a half seconds off his school record this winter, putting up a time of 54.90 seconds at state.
“I just think that it’s a matter of a really talented individual who finally figured out the mental piece and took decisions into his own hands,” Franklin coach Zach DeWitt said. “He just grew up a lot, and in a short amount of time.”
“It is kind of surreal,” Couet added, “but I know it’s happening for a reason. All of the clichés people tell you about hard work, they’re not joking.”
Texas, which also has Carmel superstar Drew Kibler in its recruiting class, found out about Couet through Franklin assistant Alex Jerden, who is departing this spring to start coaching down in Austin.
Couet took a visit to the campus and swam for the coaches, and once they saw his state times they were sold on his potential — which could be limitless now that baseball isn’t occupying a large chunk of his calendar.
In a sport where many stars are seemingly preordained before they even reach high school, Couet is the ultimate late bloomer. He’s gained 15 pounds of muscle over the past year, he says, “and I’ve got to do another 15 next year.”
Part of a Franklin team that enjoyed the best season in school history this year, finishing second in the state, Couet feels that a big part of that leap forward individually and as a team was mental.
Before this past season, he says, the Grizzly Cubs often went to state and didn’t feel as though they belonged. This year, they went in with the attitude that they not only belonged but were going to crush everybody.
That mindset paid off, and Couet is now taking it and running with it all the way to Texas.
“Nothing seems ridiculous anymore,” he said.
