The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
What it means to be a Longhorn: Patty (Sabo) Karsten
08.17.2019 | Women's Swimming and Diving, T-Association
Read the second in a 14-part series on the Hall of Honor class of 2019.
This is the second of a 14-part series celebrating the Hall of Honor class of 2019. In these first-person vignettes, each inductee shares his/her thoughts on 'What it means to be a Longhorn.' Thirteen former University of Texas student-athletes and one former UT System administrator will be inducted on Friday, Aug. 30 into the Hall of Honor. Tickets for the Hall of Honor banquet are available at TexasSports.com/tickets.
Patty (Sabo) Karsten Hall of Honor bio
Growing up in the state of Michigan, The University of Texas never really came onto my radar until I was probably in high school. My coach had a connection to Texas through one of his sons there, but it was through Swimming World Magazine that I really started to learn about Texas and the great program and the successes they were having.
I was amazed and pleasantly surprised to be recruited by Texas. I was a champion in Michigan, so I was one of the best swimmers in Michigan, but still amazed that Texas would want to recruit me. When I went down for my recruiting trip, I found that everything about it was larger than life, which is crazy since everything's bigger in Texas. The facility was phenomenal, the team was cohesive and fun, and they were excelling and winning national championships. I fell in love with Texas because of everything I saw and experienced.
Probably the school that was recruiting me the hardest was Tennessee. My coach had a connection to Texas through one of his sons, and honestly once I visited Texas there was no going back. Ironically, what tipped the decision further for me was something the University of Tennessee coach said to me. He knew that for me it was between Tennessee and Texas, and he said, "Well Patty, you could go to Texas and be a little fish in a big pond or you can come to Tennessee and be the big fish in a little pond." And I said, "That's all I need to know. I'm going to go to Texas, and I'm going to be a big fish in a big pond."
Richard Quick, my coach at Texas, saw more in me in me than most. I was sort of under the radar. Unexpected, and kind of scrappy, if you will. And I think that appealed to him, that there was so much he could do with me to develop me.
Being part of the class I was in, we were very talented and had been champions in our home states, but I don't think that we were necessarily the biggest names when we arrived for our freshman year. It was a cohesive group in which we all rose to the occasion. Unexpected and under the radar, we just flourished under Richard and our coaches.
I remember orientation for UT student-athletes like it was yesterday. We had this giant women's sports orientation week, getting to meet the other freshmen student-athletes. There was a big softball game at the end of orientation week that was really fun because none of us were softball players. Texas didn't have a softball program back then. I just remember the camaraderie and school spirit that was there on day one.
What stands out to me the most are some of the practices and workouts we had. Richard would challenge me each practice, literally trying to create workouts that I wouldn't be able to do, but I always did. Then there's Jill Sterkel, who was training for the Olympic Games and was a sprinter and had shorter practices than I did as a distance swimmer. Every time she finished practice, before she'd go to the locker room, before she'd do anything else, she would sit at the end of my lane and wait for me to finish. I was the last one in the pool and she would do that as a sign of support. That's the kind of team we had.
We were an extremely unique group, winning four consecutive NCAA team championships. That hadn't been done before by any women's team. Winning my own individual national championship my junior year was something I never thought I could achieve, especially in the race that I won it. All of those were really special moments, along with being elected captain my senior year, and that meant a great deal to me.
But I think that's what being a Longhorn is about. It's something bigger than yourself. I love that I was a part of this school that's so passionate about everything it does, whether it's academics or athletics or you name it. There's such a pride and school spirit and I love that. It's something that I carry with me to this day. The commitment to excellence that has always been in place, again whether it's academics or athletics, I don't know how I would ever have fared at just being another student-athlete at another university that wasn't special. To me, at Texas, everything is special.
It's what I took away from my experiences at UT. Being under the radar and overachieving, always striving to be better and having that pride, having a sense of spirit and enthusiasm for whatever you're a part of – it could be my job, it could be a hobby, it could be a group of friends. The support system I had at UT was second-to-none. They cared about us as people, and they cared about us as athletes and students. They wanted us to be ready for the world, whether that was in athletics or academics or life. That's huge for someone 17 or 18, leaving home, sometimes for the first time, and in many cases far from home. The Longhorn support system was amazing. That's something that stayed with me and has served me well over the years.