It’s whole new world for Luther
State champion from Westlake savors adventure of first international meet.
— Whitney Hedgepeth barely had a chance to say goodbye to Dakota Luther, her 17-year-old daughter, as she pulled up to the sidewalk at the Austin airport July 4.
“I literally dropped her off on the curb,” Hedgepeth said. “I was like, ‘Bye! I love you! Go!’”
The brief goodbye came after Hedgepeth had to make last-minute changes to her daughter’s travel plans. Luther’s initial flight had been delayed, and she would have missed her connecting flight to a training camp for U.S. national team swimmers in Croatia had her mother not booked a new one at the last minute.
In the weeks since their rushed farewell, Hedgepeth hasn’t heard much from Luther. There have been scattered texts, but the teen has been busy training for the FINA World Championships in Budapest.
On Wednesday, Luther — a senior-to-be at Westlake High School — will compete in qualifying heats for the women’s 200-meter butter- fly. The final will be Thursday at Danube Arena.
Luther qualified for her first international meet thanks to a second-place showing in the 200 butter- fly at the national champi- onships on June 27 in Indianapolis. She lowered her previous best time in the event by nearly 2 seconds, surprising both herself and her mother, a former swim- ming star at the University of Texas who won three medals at the 1996 Olympics, including silvers in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events.
“She had never been in that situation before,” Hedgepeth said. “For her to hang tough, I was proud of her.”
Luther and 15-year-old backstroker Regan Smith of Minnesota are the youngest swimmers on the U.S. team in Hungary, and they have been roommates in both Croatia and Budapest.
After t he U.S. team’s weeklong training camp in Croatia, Greg Meehan, the women’s head coach, gathered his squad and gave each swimmer the chance to offer a “shout-out” to a teammate. Two-time Olympic medalist Leah Smith praised the team’s youngest swimmers.
“I said that Dakota and Regan stood out in my mind as rookies who might feel young and might feel like they don’t know their place yet, but who definitely have earned their spot on this team,” Smith said.
Smith’s co m pl i ment touched Luther, who committed to Georgia in June after winning her third straight UIL gold medal in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2017 state meet, where she also placed first in the Class 6A girls 100-yard but- terfly. Luther was anxious as she headed into the trip to Europe, but she has appreciated having the more expe- rienced swimmers as men- tors.
“I’ve learned through their stories and experience,” Luther said, “and it’s nice to see that normal people like that can go where I want to go.”
Before this trip to Europe, Luther had never traveled outside of North America, and she’s making the most of her experience overseas. She enjoyed relaxing by the Adri- atic Sea in Croatia, describing the scenery as beautiful.
Her favorite part of Buda- pest so far? The food.
“The way they season and cook potatoes here is so good,” she said with a smile.
Luther also has shown financial wisdom beyond her years on the trip while taking advantage of a favorable exchange rate. At one point, she and her team- mates jumped at the chance to buy cheaper-than-normal Birkenstock sandals.
Team captain Elizabeth Beisel, a three-time Olympian who’s 24, said Luther a nd t he team’s younger swimmers serve as import- ant reminders to the veterans not to take their Team USA experiences for granted.
“We live the life,” Beisel said. “This is the best that our lives will ever get when we’re representing Team USA and wearing that Amer- ican flag cap.”
World-record hol d er Katie Ledecky echoed Beisel’s comments, saying that Luther and Smith remind her of herself as a 15-yearold competing at the 2012 Olympics.
“They make just as much of an impact on the veterans as we hope to make on them,” she said. “And I think they’ll provide a big spark for the whole team just see- ing how much fun they’re all having.”