University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Off Script: French Champion Helmbacher Ready for More Success at Pitt
8/10/2018 12:00:00 PM | General, Swimming & Diving
Big Improvements Have Pitt Swimmer Pursuing Olympic Dream
PITTSBURGH – From the first time he first tried swimming at age five, Samy Helmbacher's times in the pool have just kept getting better and better.
Growing up in the small town of Rosheim, in mountainous Eastern France, Helmbacher was a long and lean athlete. While he also trained in several other sporting disciplines, including biathlon, a popular European sport that combines skiing and rifle shooting, it quickly became clear that he especially excelled at swimming.
Each year, his times continued to get lower and lower until he eventually qualified for the French Championships and the European Junior Swimming Championships from his club program, Dauphins d'Obernai.
"As long as I'm getting better, why not continue?" said a smiling Helmbacher, who is now entering his junior season as one of the standout athletes on the Pitt swimming & diving team.
He appears to have made the correct decision.
Back in May, Helmbacher was the fastest Frenchmen in his top event – the 400-meter individual medley – as he posted his nation's top time of 4:20.70 at the 2018 French Elite Long Course Championships.
A few weeks after winning his first national title, Helmbacher represented his country at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, placing fifth in the 400 IM and also taking 12th in the 200 IM.
"It was really cool to make the senior French National Team for the Mediterranean Games," Helmbacher said. "In the past, I had been on some junior French teams, but it was great to swim alongside the best French swimmers and compete at that meet. It was also very nice to accomplish my goal of having the best time in France in the 400 IM."
As he establishes himself on the international swimming scene, Helmbacher is also developing into a force to be reckoned with in American collegiate swimming at Pitt.
After a strong freshman year in 2016-17 that saw him score at the ACC Championships in the 400 IM, Helmbacher's sophomore season saw remarkable time drops that resulted in him setting Pitt school records in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley. He capped the campaign with a top-10 finish at the conference meet in the 400 IM and a 12th-place effort in the 200 IM.
As Helmbacher erased several seconds off his times in almost every event in which he competed in, Pitt swimming & diving head coach John Hargis began to notice a positive difference in his demeanor, too.
"Samy is usually very soft-spoken, but his confidence has grown tremendously during his time here," Hargis explained. "He is becoming more vocal, holding his teammates accountable and emerging as a leader. It's great to see him developing as an athlete and a person as he opens up more and more with our athletes to help everyone improve together."
When Hargis became Pitt's head coach in the summer of 2016, one of his first decisions was to recruit Helmbacher and get the talented Frenchmen to commit to the Panthers.
"It didn't take long for us to realize that Samy could be really, really good," says Hargis. "Training with Zach Lierley, who was a wonderful role model, helped Samy develop quickly during his freshman year. He understood what was required of him just based off watching Zach every day. Then as a sophomore, everything started to fall into place for him. Now we're hoping to see some unbelievable results for Samy as a junior and senior moving forward."
Helmbacher also credits Coach Hargis' "intense" practices for his vast improvements since he made the decision to swim for the University of Pittsburgh.
"Training in America is totally different than what I was used to," Helmbacher said. "It's very fast-paced and intense, while the focus in Europe is usually on technique and long-course swimming. But I really feel like the training here with my coaches has been complimentary to what my training was like in France and has helped me improve a lot."
While he admits that it can be challenging being a foreign student-athlete in America, Helmbacher says that he embraces the long hours of studying for his academic pursuits and the adjustment of living in a new city so far away from home.
The English, French and German-speaking Helmbacher was recently accepted into Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering as he pursues a degree in industrial engineering. And after growing up outside a small French town with a population of about 5,000, Helmbacher is learning to love city life in his new home.
"Pittsburgh is very different from France," Helmbacher said with an enthusiastic nod. "The culture and the city were a big adjustment for me. I have never lived in the city before, so that was very new to me. I really like the campus. It is very pretty. I like how there is a lot to do very near to us."
One big thing that Helmbacher credits with his quick adjustment to Pittsburgh is the number of fellow international student-athletes on the Pitt swimming and diving teams.
"It's very easy to relate to all of the international athletes on our team," Helmbacher said, referencing the 12 foreign swimmers and divers that competed for Pitt last year. "Even though we are from different countries, we still share this experience together. Sometimes it is hard as a freshman to adjust to living abroad, but it helps to always have other athletes to spend your time with."
For Helmbacher to achieve his most significant goal, he will have to make further impressive improvements as a swimmer, while traveling across the globe for more prestigious international meets.
"I would like to make the 2020 Olympics," Helmbacher confidently stated. "That is definitely my primary athletic goal right now."
"We have great expectations for him, and he has big expectations for himself," said Hargis, who himself competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and helped the United States win relay gold. "There are plenty of smaller, short-term goals for Samy to accomplish, such as making more French National Teams, qualifying for the NCAA Championships at Pitt and becoming an All-American. But the ultimate dream for him, obviously, is the 2020 Summer Olympics."
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Growing up in the small town of Rosheim, in mountainous Eastern France, Helmbacher was a long and lean athlete. While he also trained in several other sporting disciplines, including biathlon, a popular European sport that combines skiing and rifle shooting, it quickly became clear that he especially excelled at swimming.
Each year, his times continued to get lower and lower until he eventually qualified for the French Championships and the European Junior Swimming Championships from his club program, Dauphins d'Obernai.
"As long as I'm getting better, why not continue?" said a smiling Helmbacher, who is now entering his junior season as one of the standout athletes on the Pitt swimming & diving team.
He appears to have made the correct decision.
Back in May, Helmbacher was the fastest Frenchmen in his top event – the 400-meter individual medley – as he posted his nation's top time of 4:20.70 at the 2018 French Elite Long Course Championships.
A few weeks after winning his first national title, Helmbacher represented his country at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, placing fifth in the 400 IM and also taking 12th in the 200 IM.
"It was really cool to make the senior French National Team for the Mediterranean Games," Helmbacher said. "In the past, I had been on some junior French teams, but it was great to swim alongside the best French swimmers and compete at that meet. It was also very nice to accomplish my goal of having the best time in France in the 400 IM."
As he establishes himself on the international swimming scene, Helmbacher is also developing into a force to be reckoned with in American collegiate swimming at Pitt.
After a strong freshman year in 2016-17 that saw him score at the ACC Championships in the 400 IM, Helmbacher's sophomore season saw remarkable time drops that resulted in him setting Pitt school records in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley. He capped the campaign with a top-10 finish at the conference meet in the 400 IM and a 12th-place effort in the 200 IM.
As Helmbacher erased several seconds off his times in almost every event in which he competed in, Pitt swimming & diving head coach John Hargis began to notice a positive difference in his demeanor, too.
"Samy is usually very soft-spoken, but his confidence has grown tremendously during his time here," Hargis explained. "He is becoming more vocal, holding his teammates accountable and emerging as a leader. It's great to see him developing as an athlete and a person as he opens up more and more with our athletes to help everyone improve together."
When Hargis became Pitt's head coach in the summer of 2016, one of his first decisions was to recruit Helmbacher and get the talented Frenchmen to commit to the Panthers.
"It didn't take long for us to realize that Samy could be really, really good," says Hargis. "Training with Zach Lierley, who was a wonderful role model, helped Samy develop quickly during his freshman year. He understood what was required of him just based off watching Zach every day. Then as a sophomore, everything started to fall into place for him. Now we're hoping to see some unbelievable results for Samy as a junior and senior moving forward."
Helmbacher also credits Coach Hargis' "intense" practices for his vast improvements since he made the decision to swim for the University of Pittsburgh.
"Training in America is totally different than what I was used to," Helmbacher said. "It's very fast-paced and intense, while the focus in Europe is usually on technique and long-course swimming. But I really feel like the training here with my coaches has been complimentary to what my training was like in France and has helped me improve a lot."
While he admits that it can be challenging being a foreign student-athlete in America, Helmbacher says that he embraces the long hours of studying for his academic pursuits and the adjustment of living in a new city so far away from home.
The English, French and German-speaking Helmbacher was recently accepted into Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering as he pursues a degree in industrial engineering. And after growing up outside a small French town with a population of about 5,000, Helmbacher is learning to love city life in his new home.
"Pittsburgh is very different from France," Helmbacher said with an enthusiastic nod. "The culture and the city were a big adjustment for me. I have never lived in the city before, so that was very new to me. I really like the campus. It is very pretty. I like how there is a lot to do very near to us."
One big thing that Helmbacher credits with his quick adjustment to Pittsburgh is the number of fellow international student-athletes on the Pitt swimming and diving teams.
"It's very easy to relate to all of the international athletes on our team," Helmbacher said, referencing the 12 foreign swimmers and divers that competed for Pitt last year. "Even though we are from different countries, we still share this experience together. Sometimes it is hard as a freshman to adjust to living abroad, but it helps to always have other athletes to spend your time with."
For Helmbacher to achieve his most significant goal, he will have to make further impressive improvements as a swimmer, while traveling across the globe for more prestigious international meets.
"I would like to make the 2020 Olympics," Helmbacher confidently stated. "That is definitely my primary athletic goal right now."
"We have great expectations for him, and he has big expectations for himself," said Hargis, who himself competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and helped the United States win relay gold. "There are plenty of smaller, short-term goals for Samy to accomplish, such as making more French National Teams, qualifying for the NCAA Championships at Pitt and becoming an All-American. But the ultimate dream for him, obviously, is the 2020 Summer Olympics."
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Players Mentioned
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BK/IM/BR
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