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When most people think of swimming pools, the first thoughts that pop into their heads are usually fun in the sun and maybe the fast-approaching Spring Break.

But fortunately for the women's swimming team, when sophomore swimmer Elissa Stautner sees a pool, she thinks about getting that photo finish in a race; befittingly so, considering Stautner's affinity for photography.

"She loves to take pictures and to be in pictures," her roommate and fellow sophomore swimmer Kate Hansen said.

Stautner's first experience in the water was at age 7 and her love grew from there. She started swimming competitively in high school.

"I have lived in Texas for most of my life, and swimming is a very popular sport there. It's so hot there in the summertime that if you dare to go outside, you had better be in a pool," she said. "Swimming is also a great stress reducer. It gets my mind off school and lets me focus on something else for a few hours each day." 

At Hopkins, Stautner is affectionately referred to by her teammates as Noodle. But most importantly, Elissa is known as the go-to specialist in distance swimming, with freestyle as her main stroke.

Last weekend at the Blue Grass Mountain Championships, Stautner captured three first place finishes at the three-day conference. She was triumphant in all of her events, which included the 500-, 200- and 1,650-yard freestyle.

"Elissa should have gotten Swimmer of the Meet honors," senior Allie Foster said.

In addition to the individual wins, she propelled her relay team to a decisive win in the 800-yard event, swimming as the anchor in that heat and defeating their closest competitors by a full ten seconds.

"She had the fastest split on the 800-yard freestyle relay, which broke the conference record," sophomore Jackie Rooney said.

Stautner will find out later in the week whether the times she clocked for two of her individual events were good enough to qualify her for the B-cuts of the NCAA Division III Championships. The national meet is coincidentally being held in Stautner's home state, and the rest of the Lady Jays only see that fact as a sign of good things to come.

"[Elissa's] going to be an extremely important part of lots of relays at Nationals in three weeks," Foster said. "[She is] a great person to go to competitions with because of her natural cool attitude and desire to do anything to help the team."

Though this weekend was undoubtedly one of Stautner's best in her swimming career, it certainly wasn't a fluke.

"She always pulls out great swims when the pressure is on and that was made clearer this weekend," Foster said.

Prior to this weekend, Stautner has taken home seven individual first place victories this season alone, including two in the 500-yard freestyle competition and one in the grueling 1,650-yard freestyle. In a truly amazing feat, Stautner has also managed to place fifth or higher overall in each of her events, with the exception of two events at the highly competitive Nike Cup Invitational last November.

"I have never met a swimmer with such endurance," Rooney said.

"She tears through our practices and sets standards that even some of [the male swimmers] can't match," Foster said.

It's safe to say that Stautner has learned how to deal with pain: she underwent surgery on both her shoulders in high school. She has made a tremendous recovery since the operation three short years ago.

But maybe that athletic drive and will to win was always in pumping through her veins.

"My great uncle, Ernie Stautner, played football for the [Pittsburgh] Steelers and coached the [Dallas] Cowboys. He won two Super Bowl rings with the Cowboys and is in the Hall of Fame for both playing and coaching football," Stautner said.

When Elissa's Hopkins swimming career finally comes to a close, she would like to go to medical school. She's making good use of her time, as a member of the Hopkins Emergency Response Unit (HERU), and is involved in the teaching of classes for the HERU certification.

"She is a really good student and manages her time really well. She always makes time for her close friends," Hansen said.

"Elissa is one of the most spirited, happy people to be around," junior swimmer Jess Nelson added.

The feeling is mutual for Stautner towards her teammates.

"I really enjoy swimming at Hopkins," Stautner said. "Our team has a lot of great people on it, and I really enjoy spending time with all of them."

With already a trough full of accolades in tow, Stautner continues to work hard, in and out of the pool.

And one thing's for sure: her photo finishes will not be the last we'll be seeing of Stautner in the future.

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