With an absolutely dominating victory over Notre Dame in last night’s national championship football game, Alabama alumni and fans are ecstatic with joy.

With a game plan second to none, the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama under coach Nick Saban showed creativity and ingenuity. And the Tide’s intellectual prowess was more than matched with its players’ physical talents.

But even with the joy of winning a national championship in front of a nationwide television audience, the players and coaches stayed grounded and committed to working hard once they returned home.

Which reminds us of Susan Williams, a fast swimmer and Olympic medalist in triathlon.

After representing the University of Alabama in NCAA swimming competitions and earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering Sciences, she turned to triathlons to stay in shape. But her tenacity and talents were too much to keep her at the amateur level and she was soon on the United States national triathlon team, fast-tracking to represent the U.S.A. at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. But soon before the Olympic qualification race, she found out she was pregnant and focused on motherhood, naming her daughter Sydney.

Despite her dream to become an astronaut, Williams stayed grounded. She gradually returned to the high echelon of professional competition and worked diligently until her hard work paid off with a qualification for the 2004 Athens Olympics. In the heat of the Athens summer, she upset many and won a bronze medal with a strategic race that was founded on a long-term commitment to hard work.

Very ‘Bama-like.

Williams is currently coaching triathletes and a masters swim team that incorporates open water swimming in Littleton, Colorado.

Photo of Susan Williams by Frank Wechsel of ITU with her daughter Sydney.

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