Babcock likes to win titles, without making a splash

Colton Babcock is 6-foot-3, 185-pounds and has an arm span of 6-foot-6.

Hoops star, right?

Not even close.

“I’m no good at basketball,” he said during an interview last week. Babcock is one of the best swimmers in the state. 

But outside the pool, he’s a fish out of water. During a choir practice awhile back, he was carrying chairs off the bleachers and fell and sprained his ankle.

But put him in a pool and he’s dolphin-like. The junior took two state titles last month, winning the 50 and 100 freestyle races as the Columbia Falls boys swim team won its first-ever state A title.

But Babcock isn’t much on accolades. When the team was recognized during a pep rally, Babcock never even held the trophy.

“I don’t really like the spotlight,” he said. “Everyone on the team was just as important as I was.”

A few days after the state title he was back in the pool, training with fellow swimmer Nate Burnham of Kalispell. In a typical afternoon workout they’ll swim upwards of 11,000 yards. That’s 220 laps, 6.25 miles. To fuel the workouts, he eats 8,000 to 9,000 calories a day.

“I pile as much as I can on my plate,” he said. He also supplements meals with protein shakes.

Babcock also shaves his body. Gillette Pro Fusion is the shaving cream of choice.

“I also have someone shave my back every once in awhile,” he said.  

He swims nearly year-round with the Wave Ryder club out of Whitefish and then doubles up on practices during the high school swim season.

His goals are bigger than Montana titles. In the next few weeks he’ll be competing in Futures events with the hopes of qualifying for the junior nationals, which are one step below the Olympic trials. He plans on swimming in college and the ultimate goal is to make the Olympic trials while in college.

Babcock got an early start to swimming. When he was 6, his parents, Courtney and Doug signed him up for the summer swim team.

“Well, we won’t have to worry about going to state,” his mother quipped about her young swimmer. Colton proved them wrong that first year and qualified for the tournament.

One school administrator recently called him the Michael Phelps of the Flathead. Babcock brushes off the comparison.

“I wouldn’t like to be compared to Michael Phelps,” he said. “I want to be Colton Babcock. I want to represent Columbia Falls in a sportsman-like and gentleman-like way.”

Good swimming isn’t about making a splash. It’s about discipline in the water.

“What makes me a good swimmer is I focus where I am. Where my arms are and when I have to make my next turn,” he said.