68°
STAMFORD, Conn. Ryan Cutter honed his swimming skills at Stamford's Newfield Swim and Tennis Club. This summer, the Harvard junior is teaching kids who hope to follow in his footsteps.
Cutter, a three-time All-State swimmer at Westhill High School, is an assistant coach for David Fine on the Newfield coaching staff. His father, Bruce, is the long-time club manager at Newfield, which is celebrating its 50th year. Ryan holds six Newfield club records.
"It's fun to be on the other side of things,'' Cutter said. "It's nice to see these kids who could be awesome swimmers someday to be out practicing and working on their strokes."
When he's not working with youngsters, Cutter works on his conditioning. He visits Blue Streak sports training several times a week and is also training with the Stamford Sharks swim team, which is coached by Westhill's Rick Lewis.
The goal is to be ready for a breakout year at Harvard, where Cutter swims butterfly and freestyle. "I'd like to see what I can do with a little more effort,'' Cutter said.
One of his main goals is to help the Crimson win the Ivy League championship. Harvard last won the league title in 2008. Princeton won the 2011 title by 5 ½ points over Harvard.
"Harvard has been everything I expected and more,'' Cutter said. "I went there because I wanted to be part of a team. These guys are my best friends. It's been everything I could've wanted."
Cutter's sister, Kyle, became an All-American at Harvard and still competes in Masters meets. She lives in the Boston area and monitors her brother's progress. One of his signature moments so far was a victory in the 200 butterfly in a meet against Yale and Princeton. He helped Harvard take second in the 400 medley relay in the same meet.
Cutter went to Harvard after a wonderful career at Westhill, in which he set the league record in the 200 free. He went undefeated as a senior and won the State Open in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. He was also a two-time Academic All-American. Cutter will be a major part of Harvard's lineup, which will include just seven seniors in the upcoming season.
"It'd be great to make an NCAA cut and be competitive,'' Cutter said. "It's a really good thing to shoot for. More than individual goals, I'd like to see the team succeed. I think we have a good shot at beating Princeton this year."
What do you think of Ryan Cutter returning to help the Newfield swim team? Start the discussion below!
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
