PROSPERITY — Mid-Carolina High School senior Ben Hawkins is swimming his way to the collegiate level after signing a letter of intent to Milligan College in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Hawkins said he picked Milligan because he likes the faith aspect of the college, and he liked how he could both swim and study mechanical engineering. He added that the price was reasonable as well.

“The swim team at Milligan is a great big family, I feel like. When I took my visit, it just felt right,” Hawkins said.

When Hawkins started looking at schools where he could swim, he knew he would be going far. He said some of the other states he looked into included Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia.

“This was actually the closest out of all the schools, about three and a half hours,” he said.

Kelly Hawkins, Ben’s mother and high school swim coach, said that he looked at several schools eight and 10 hours away, and got accepted to several. She added that she knew from the very beginning distance was going to come up.

When it came to deciding on a major, Hawkins said he knew he wanted to do some kind of engineering.

“Through my classes at the Career Center, I decided that mechanical engineering would be the best for me,” he said.

When it comes to swimming in Newberry County, for which Hawkins has done so on recreational teams as well as at Mid-Carolina, Hawkins said it has been a great experience for him.

“I’ve learned a lot of life lessons and a lot about swimming, it’s been pretty great,” he said. “The highlight moment was winning State last year.”

Hawkins favorite part about the sport is the racing aspect, in fact his fastest time in 100 breaststroke is one minute one second, which is four laps in a minute.

Hawkins said he will miss his Mid-Carolina teammates, the practices and the meets, but he is very excited to move on to the next level.

“Swimming is going to take up a lot of my time (at college), and studying,” he said.

Ben’s dad, Chad Hawkins, said he is very proud of him, and all the hard work he has put in for the last 10 years.

“We see the hard work and his dedication, him getting himself up at 4:45 a.m. in the morning and driving himself to practice at 5:15 a.m. This is just an exciting day for us,” he said. “I remember the first backstroke he did, he kept bouncing off the lane lines. Seeing him able to swim straight, it’s unbelievable the leaps and bounds he has made.”

The Hawkins are going to try and make it to most of their son’s home meets, and if he makes it to nationals they will plan to attend those meets.

As a coach, Kelly Hawkins said her son signing is good for the program.

“It gets the program a little more recognition, because it is such a small program. Some people don’t know there is a swim team,” she said.

Ben Hawkins signs a letter of intent to swim for Milligan College. Back row: Mid-Carolina Swim Coach Gretta KeNicola, Principal Ray Cooper, Will Hawkins, Sam Hawkins, Chad Hawkins, YMCA Columbia Swim Coach Jeff Mead. Front row: Milligan Coach Kelly Essler, Ben Hawkins, Kelly Hawkins.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_DSC_0677.jpgBen Hawkins signs a letter of intent to swim for Milligan College. Back row: Mid-Carolina Swim Coach Gretta KeNicola, Principal Ray Cooper, Will Hawkins, Sam Hawkins, Chad Hawkins, YMCA Columbia Swim Coach Jeff Mead. Front row: Milligan Coach Kelly Essler, Ben Hawkins, Kelly Hawkins. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@championcarolinas.com

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.