Nov. 10, 2016
December 4, 2015, started out like just every other day in the swimming world. Auburn’s men’s and women’s teams were in Athens, Ga., competing in an invitational against some of the top teams in the country. Meanwhile, completely across the country, Luis Martinez, a virtual unknown sophomore for Auburn, was competing in the 2015 AT&T Winter Nationals in Federal Way, Wash.
So how did he get here, in lane 3 of the 100-meter butterfly finals, three starting blocks away from Michael Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in the history of the sport? And how did he take third with an automatic Olympic qualifying time of 52.35?
A native of Guatemala City, Guatemala, Martinez transferred to Auburn after starting his collegiate career at Missouri S&T, a Division II school in Rolla, Mo.
Yes, he had wanted to train at Auburn when he was first introduced to the recruiting process, but his times did not even warrant Auburn’s attention. When told he could join the team as a walk-on he said, ‘Thanks but no thanks,’ as he needed a scholarship. So off to Missouri A&T he went.
Once there it didn’t take long for his long-term swimming prospects to blossom. By January of 2015, Martinez had not only developed into a top-level swimmer, but he was now on the James E. Martin Aquatics Center pool deck, suiting up for Auburn’s powerhouse program against Texas.
“I’m here because of (former Auburn swimmer and Olympian) Gisela Morales,” Martinez said. “She’s from Guatemala and she loved this place. She was my teammate and she knew me, knew the way I swam, the way I train. She said I think Auburn would be a very good choice for you. I think you should give it a shot.”
In his first season, he took 15th in the 100-yard butterfly at 2015 SEC Championships in 47.09, but that was just the beginning.
Prior to the 2015-16 season, Lauren Hancock joined the Auburn coaching staff, a move that would change the trajectory of Martinez’ swimming career.
“At the Alabama dual meet last year it seemed he wasn’t warming up enough or maybe properly,” Hancock said. “I don’t know if he just didn’t know what he needed to do to swim his very best in the dual meet season but he asked me, ‘What should I do in my warmup?’ At that point I just went on autopilot and gave him what I thought would best suit him for his events coming up later that day and he really liked it. He felt really strong in the warm-up and I think that was probably the beginning.”
Swimming in three events at Alabama, Martinez had his best finish in the 100 fly, clocking a 47.94, while in the 200 fly he went 1:39.37.
“Lauren is an amazing coach and I know that now but before you always have your doubts,” Martinez said. “I was training with her for three months before (Winter Nationals) and all these things are going through my head; Is this going to be enough? But then I learned just trusting what you do, what the coaches do – they are adults, they are experienced, they know what they are doing, this is their passion.”
The training and trust paid off. Martinez turned a 52.72 Winter Nationals qualifying time into a 52.35 final swim, putting him on the podium in Washington and on his way to Rio for the summer Olympics.
Once in Rio, Martinez dropped his time to 52.22, a Guatemalan national record, to place 19th in the field of 43 swimmers, missing the semifinals by .14 seconds.
“Once I qualified it has just been getting better and I’ve learned so much, not only from training for the Olympics but also at the Olympics and after the Olympics,” Martinez said. “A lot of things I trained for Olympics, they did show in my race at Olympics but they are still showing now. All that base is still helping me, probably even more now than it did at the Olympics.”
Back in the United States and into his second full season racing for Auburn, Martinez has become the team’s top butterfly specialists and one of the top fliers in the country. His short course yards 100 time of 47.10 is currently third in the country, with one of the top times ahead of him being that of the Olympic gold medalist in the event, while his 200 time is 13th-best in collegiate swimming. He has also been a key part of Auburn’s medley relays, helping Auburn post the top 400 medley relay time in the nation so far.
Martinez and his teammates, which collectively form the No. 5 men’s team in the CSCAA rankings, will face another tough challenge on Friday when it travels to Knoxville, Tenn., to face conference rival No. 19 Tennessee. The dual meet, which also includes Auburn’s No. 11-ranked women’s team against the No. 14 Tennessee women’s team, begins at noon CT, and will air on the SEC Network on Sunday at 11 a.m.