“She has a rare combination of an incredible work ethic, exceptional talent and a mindset that lets her get behind the block and really perform,” said Amherst Swim Coach Nick Nichols of eight-time national champion Brittany Sasser ’08. “I think that she’s just now coming into her own in terms of racing and her understanding of what she’s capable of doing.” If Sasser is only now truly coming into her own as a competitive racer, there is no telling what she can accomplish in the future.
Perhaps Amherst has never educated an athlete as talented and as dedicated to her sport and her community as Sasser. In her first three years as a swimmer at the College, Sasser established herself as not only the top Div. III swimmer in New England, but as the preeminent swimmer in the nation, earning Swimmer of the Meet at last year’s Div. III National Championships in Houston, Texas. Yet, as dominant as Sasser is in the water, she has also devoted herself to activities beyond the pool. A committed student and singer, Sasser majors in anthropology and performs with the all-female Sabrinas a cappella group. Whether she’s a captain or just a member of the group, Sasser is “always a leader” and someone “everyone looks up to,” said friend and fellow swimmer and Sabrina Kara MacLaverty ’09.
Sasser came to Amherst on a whim, after originally verbally committing to attend Duke University, her family school. With top Div. I programs such as Northwestern and Rice Universities also seeking the swimmer from Belmont, Mass., with tremendous potential, Sasser originally gave little thought to competing in Div. III. However, Amherst swimmer Margaret Ramsey ’07 convinced her high school friend to check out the College and upon her visit, Sasser was sold. She fell in love with the women on the team and the way that Div. III athletics would allow her to be a student first, not an “athlete student,” as she says.
Sasser gave up swimming year-round in high school and swam only for her Belmont High School team because she sought time to pursue her musical interests as well, performing in musicals and playing the saxophone. When it came time to choose a college, Sasser wanted to preserve the ability to participate in activities outside the pool. “It was as though she had a religious experience, some sort of awakening,” described Nichols of Sasser’s initial visit to the College, her interaction with the women on the team and her decision to enroll at Amherst. Sasser added that Nichols’ geniality and attitude that swimming should always be fun convinced her to withdraw her early decision application to Duke and apply early here. She has never regretted her decision and continues to admire the way Amherst trusts its students. “They don’t make choices for you,” she said. “Amherst gives you all the tools to make choices for the rest of your life.”
Amherst’s longer training season and very rigorous workouts immediately impacted Sasser. Armed with what Nichols calls a “work ethic that just won’t stop,” Sasser quickly improved and earned her first national titles in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. And Sasser hasn’t stopped improving. Every season, times drop and records fall at the Amherst, the NESCAC and the national level. “When you come to practice with your friends, swimming fast just comes out of having a lot of fun here,” Sasser explained. “[Nichols] finds a lot of success because he makes sure fun is number one. You’re going to swim fast if you’re having fun.”
No matter her individual accomplishments, Sasser places the team’s needs ahead of her own, citing strong team finishes at NESCACs and Nationals as her primary goals. “She supports everyone and when she’s not swimming her own race she is cheering on one of her teammates on the side of the pool,” said teammate and friend Lisa Pritchard ’08. Furthermore, “her races motivate her teammates to perform better.” Nichols called Sasser a “trailblazer” for the team, and friend and co-captain Derek Prill ’08 noted how swimmers choose practice times based on when Sasser attends because her attitude inspires.
This year is Sasser’s first since middle school swimming year-round, having trained with the Cambridge Masters team at the Harvard University pool this summer. She sandwiched the training around an internship at the Investment Fund for Foundations, a firm that manages the money of endowed charities, and where she will continue working after graduation.
The increased intensity of her training regimen has already manifested itself in her best dual meet season times to date. Nichols believes Sasser’s showing in Amherst’s win against rival Williams College earlier this season, in which she shattered three pool records and put up times good enough to win Nationals, was “one of, if not the greatest, dual meet performances in Div. III ever,” Nichols commented. “She’s going to go out with a bang,” he continued, of the show he expects from Sasser in her final Nationals in Ohio this March. With talk of Olympic Trials in the air, Sasser insists she is not making that decision until March and pointed out that she likes “having a life outside of swimming” as well. But, Sasser maintains that her “first priority is Amherst swimming.”
“Brittany’s goals are lofty and her expectations high. But there is not a swimmer on either the women’s or men’s swimming and diving teams who won’t respect what she says or try to emulate what she does,” said Prill. “Her drive is such that one can’t help but get caught in her wake—and we are all the better for it.”