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Most 14-year-old freshman girls can't do what Hamilton has done so far this winter, which is make serious waves for the Chambersburg girls swim team.
And the best is, presumably, yet to come.
With the Mid Penn Conference meet coming up Feb. 12 and the District 3 Championships three weeks later, Hamilton is priming for her first postseason of high school swimming.
It has been met with quite a bit of anticipation.
"I definitely think she has the ability to medal at districts and compete at the state level this year," Trojan girls coach Donnie Miller said. "I think her biggest strength is her will to win and succeed. She pushes herself to new levels in practice and meets. In any type of high-competition meet, she performs very well.
"I think her best performances are yet to be seen."
On Jan. 16-17, Hamilton went to Winterfest Invitational with the Chambersburg YMCA Chargers and competed well against some of the best 13- and 14-year-old swimmers on the East Coast.
All she did was set a Charger record in winning the 100 butterfly, take third in the 100 backstroke and 11th in the 100 freestyle.
Which begs the question: How will she do against PIAA competition?
"If anything, in the state of Pennsylvania she should dominate compared, to say, the national level of the YMCA," Chargers coach Chris Chance said. "I'd say she has a chance to win a state championship as a
Hamilton has had plenty of success with the Chargers, and it has translated well to the varsity level.
"But I still get nervous," Hamilton said. "It can be the littlest dual meet or nationals and I still have butterflies. But mentally, being on the Chargers with coach Chance has helped me a lot not having so much performance anxiety."
At the Bulldog Bash on Dec. 30, Hamilton broke the longest-standing girls swim record at Chambersburg, the 100 butterfly. Her time of 1:00.91 surpassed the previous mark set by Krista Bingaman in 1983.
Her abilities, however, aren't limited to her two best strokes, the butterfly and the backstroke. Of the eight individual events that are held in a dual meet, Hamilton has won seven.
She has also been a staple on Chambersburg's relay teams.
"This is my eighth year as the girls head coach at Chambersburg and she is as good as any girl I've ever had in her events," Miller said. "She may be the most well-rounded swimmer I've had."
But what has really opened some eyes to Hamilton is her times with the Chargers.
Last season, while swimming in the 13-14 age group, she set Charger records in the 100 backstroke (58.53) and 100 butterfly (59.09). The impressive part is that the times are already better than those set by Katie Hostetler when she swam in the 15-18 age group.
Hostetter is a former Trojan standout who went on to swim at Penn State.
Connect the dots, and one can envision a straight line to eventual success at the PIAA level for Hamilton.
But she is, again, only a 14-year-old freshman.
"I never know I'm going to win until the race is over," Hamilton said.
But winning the race for the Trojan standout often begins early in the morning, lap ... after lap ... after lap.
On an average weekday this winter, Hamilton will go to the YMCA for a swim from 6 to 7:15 a.m. before dressing for school 30 minutes later.
Then it is back to the YMCA after school for a two-hour practice with the Trojans. It's a love for the sport that started at an early age for Hamilton.
"I went to preschool here (at the YMCA) and my brother and sister were on the swim team, and you know everyone wants to be like their big brother and sister," she said. "That's what really got me started and I loved it from the start."
In the summer, Hamilton will rise at 7 a.m. for a two-hour swim with the Chargers before an hour workout, which consists of such things as running, crunches and pullups. Then it is over to the municipal pool for a swim on the long course.
She does this every day over the summer, with dual meets and invitationals mixed in.
"Kelly has a great work ethic," Miller said. "She is a strong individual both mentally and physically and she works hard at practice. She puts in the extra effort and does whatever is necessary to take it to the next level."
That next level is coming soon.
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Joel Rineer may be reached at 262-4819 or jrineer@publicopinionnews.com.
A winter swim
Kelly Hamilton, a freshman swimmer at Chambersburg, competed at the Winterfest Invitational on Jan. 16-17 for the Chambersburg YMCA Chargers and did quite well.
Competing in the 13-14 age group, Hamilton won the 100 butterfly in a time of 59.09, which is a Charger record. She was also third in the 100 backstroke (59.32) and 11th in the 100 freestyle.
Winterfest, held at the University of Maryland, is the premiere age-group YMCA meet on the East Coast every year. Forty-six teams with almost 1,500 swimmers from all over the east competed.
