By Mike Horan | The Michigan Catholic

St. John Neumann parishioner takes Games by storm with five medals

CANTON — After all the parishioners of St. John Neumann’s who wished to sign an autograph book had written their messages of “good luck” and “Go USA!”, the book was packed up with the Schmitt family and headed to London.

Olympic swimmer Allison Schmitt, a parishioner at St. John Neumann in Canton, received the book when her family arrived and couldn’t believe the support she was getting.

“She’s just so appreciative of the support she’s received from the parish, from the community,” said Gail Schmitt, Allison’s mother. “Just being able to share the happiness, joy and hard work with everybody is really important to her and she was really touched by it.”

Allison, who couldn’t be reached for comment, responded by winning three gold medals, a silver and a bronze in this year’s 2012 Summer Olympics, and St. John Neumann is abuzz about their Olympic gold medalist.

“We’ve had parishioners emailing stuff throughout the whole week, saying how she did in preliminaries, how she did in the semifinals and finals. They’ve posted pictures from the sports blog online,” said Fr. Ron Richards, pastor of the Canton parish. “Most of the parish is aware of what’s been happening.”

Gail Schmitt spoke of her daughter’s accomplishments, but was most proud of the person she has become.

“Of course I’m so proud of her. I’m proud of her accomplishments in the pool and the hard work and dedication that it takes to get there; it’s just amazing,” she said. “But what really makes me feel good is repeatedly any time we meet anyone that has anything to do with her or with swimming, the first thing they say is how much of a light she is and how much she is so positive and a joy to be around. That’s something she’ll have her whole life.”

Luzvilla Dresbach, an extraordinary minister of holy Communion at St. John Neumann, had a chance to meet Allison in 2008 after she won a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics and has followed her career along with her husband, Jim, ever since.

“She was so gracious and wasn’t too proud; she was just so happy,” Dresbach said. “She was wearing her medal on her neck, and I asked if she could take a picture with me and if I could wear the medal. I think the pride and joy of our parish is so full of faith for her that she would do well, and she’s done everything we’ve wished for.”

Fr. Richards, who used to coach swimming at Brother Rice High School, has had a special connection with Allison whenever she’s been home and at Mass.

“Every time I’ve talked her she’s been really gracious and always comes up and says hello and sees how things are going,” he said. “She’s the fastest in the world — that’s enormous, it’s just gigantic. The U.S. has the best swimmers in the world, and she’s not only the best for the U.S., she’s the best in the world. The amount of strength and dedication and hard work it takes to reach that level, there’s no way to explain it.”

Although Fr. Richards is pleased to have Allison as a parishioner, he explained it’s more important that she is believer in God and could be a role model for young Catholics.

“It’s more than having an Olympic swimmer in our parish; it’s having someone who believes in our faith,” he said. “Whenever she’s home from school, she’s here at Mass. It’s really cool to have someone who believes in God and celebrates God, but is also able to take the gifts God gave her and really put it to success. It’s a great representative of a good, quality young Catholic person from our parish to be.”