In a sport where champions often seem predestined well before they reach high school, Ethan Martin was anything but.
He swam in middle school, but he wasn’t doing much of anything to turn heads at that point in time.
“I was with the slow guys,” Martin recalled, “and we all — the only thing we did for practice was jump over each other in the water and play leapfrog.”
Four years later, the Center Grove senior found himself at the top of the podium at the IU Natatorium, a state champion in the 100-yard freestyle. The Cinderella story also caps his career as the Daily Journal’s Swimmer of the Year.
Center Grove coach Jim Todd has been around for a very long time, but he’s never had a swimmer whose development mirrored that of Martin — someone who wasn’t an age-group stud but came out of nowhere to become a champion.
“It’s the first one I’ve ever had in 40 years,” Todd said.
Swimming wasn’t something that Martin took particularly seriously before high school. His sport of choice was soccer; swimming was just something to do. But he noticed during his freshman year that he had essentially hit a plateau on the soccer field; meanwhile, he was making big time drops in the pool.
Near the end of his freshman swim season, Martin made enough of an impression at an intrasquad meet that he earned his way onto the Trojans’ three sectional relay teams and also got a chance to compete as an individual in the 100 freestyle.
He wasn’t quite ready for prime time yet — Martin was seventh in the 100 and none of the Trojans’ relays qualified for state — but Todd saw enough potential during that late-season surge that he encouraged Martin to drop soccer and focus on swimming full-time.
By that point Martin was convinced, largely because of the seemingly overnight progress he had been making.
“I started to see results,” he said. “I would fix something, my time would get better, and it was just rapid growth. And I hadn’t been seeing that in soccer.
“I just trusted (Todd) because I figured he knew what he was talking about, and apparently he did.”
Martin made himself more known as a sophomore, winning the 50 freestyle at the county meet and qualifying for state in that event as well as three relays. The Trojans’ medley relay placed 12th.
But it wasn’t until last season that Martin truly joined the state’s upper echelon. He jumped all the way from 23rd to second in the state in the 50 freestyle, and he added a fifth-place finish in the 100 free and led Center Grove’s medley and 200 freestyle relays to podium finishes.
The kid who spent middle school practices playing leapfrog had leapfrogged almost all of his more seasoned competition.
“I’ve always been one of those kids that kind of picks things up really easily,” Martin explained. “There are certain things that I for sure can’t do — basketball — but I think swimming just came natural to me.”
Martin’s performances during his junior season earned him major college attention, and in the spring he gave a verbal commitment to swim at the University of South Carolina, where Center Grove graduate Kevin Swander is an assistant coach.
On the final afternoon of his senior season, Martin opened with a fifth-place finish in the 50 free; he said afterward that he overthought that race. The 100 was a much different story. Matched up against Boonville’s Braden Rollins — who had beaten Martin in the 50 a year ago — the Trojan star put together the best race of his young life and hit the wall first with a time of 44.02 seconds.
Though he comes off as a very laid-back individual, Martin has a strong competitive streak bubbling beneath that outwardly chill exterior.
“Of course when I walk up behind the blocks, I’m looking at the kid and I’m like, ‘I’m going to beat him,'” Martin said. “That’s my mindset. I’m not going to question myself or doubt myself. I’m going to be confident about it; I’m going to be like, ‘I’m beating this kid today, there’s no doubt about it. I have no other option.'”
Martin held onto his state championship medal for just a few days before passing it on to someone he felt was more deserving: former Indian Creek swimmer Chase Smith, a three-time state qualifier who never got a chance to scale the podium himself.
“He’s such a tough kid, especially going through four rounds of cancer; that’s just nuts. I’ve never met anybody who’s put up as hard of a fight as him,” Martin said of Smith. “I told myself that if I ever got a state champ medal, it was going to him.”
At the rate Martin has been going, his victory at state will be far from his last.
The next challenge on his menu will be the Speedo Sectional meet later this month, where he’ll attempt to get his long-course times low enough to qualify for this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
“Hopefully I’ll get a Trials cut or two and just see where it goes from there,” Martin said.
Given how far he’s come in the last four years, the possibilities seem limitless.
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The 2021 All-County team for boys swimming and diving:
Ben Clarkston, Center Grove junior: Qualified for state in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, finishing 17th in both … Helped the Trojans end up fifth in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Barrett Daily, Franklin senior: Finished 12th in the state in the 100 breaststroke and 17th in the 200 individual medley … Anchored the Grizzly Cubs’ third-place 400 freestyle relay team and led off for the sixth-place 200 free relay.
Ethan Martin, Center Grove senior: First in the state in the 100 freestyle, the first Trojan boy since 2005 to win an individual title … Finished fifth in the 50 free and anchored Center Grove’s two fifth-place relays.
Cade Oliver, Franklin senior: Moved up one spot on the state podium in each of his events, taking second in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke … Swam on the third-place 400 freestyle relay and the fourth-place medley relay.
Ethan Pheifer, Franklin senior: Scored individual state points in the 100 backstroke (10th) and 100 freestyle (14th) … Also won medals as a part of the 400 free relay (third) and medley relay (fourth).
Mac Ratzlaff, Franklin senior: Finished as the state runner-up in the 200 freestyle and added a fourth-place finish in the 100 butterfly … Earned two more state medals as a part of the Grizzly Cubs’ 200 and 400 free relays.
Anthony Ries, Franklin junior: Qualified for state as an individual in both the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly … Also swam on the 200 medley relay (fourth) and 200 freestyle relay (sixth).
Joey Smith, Indian Creek junior: Earned a 10th-place state finish in the 50 freestyle and led off the Braves’ 14th-place 200 free relay team … Also qualified for state in the 100 free and as part of the 400 free relay.
Honorable mention
Brady Campbell, Whiteland; Caleb Crady, Center Grove; Garrett Crist, Center Grove; Evan Dennis, Indian Creek; Nolan Greene, Indian Creek; Ethan Hite, Center Grove; Harrison Hite, Center Grove; Drake Keller, Franklin; Albert Nusawardhana, Franklin; Conner Peckinpaugh, Greenwood; Sam Smith, Indian Creek
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