TOKYO, JAPAN – 2025 DEAFLYMPICS
Long before Collin Davis stood on the pool deck as the 2025 Deaflympics Team USA Captain, he was a quiet ten-year-old kid walking into his first YOTA (YMCA Of The Triangle Area) practice in Durham, North Carolina—wide-eyed, determined, and trailed by a mother who worried about everything.
Coach Tom Hazelett (YOTA) remembers that first season vividly.
“All I remember,” he says, “is how worried his mother was about him all the time. And how quickly it became clear that if Collin was going to reach his potential, he needed to become fully independent.”
From the beginning, the goal wasn’t to shelter him—quite the opposite. Coach Tom and Collin built a plan around independence, responsibility, and self-reliance. Swimming, after all, is a sport where your biggest opponent is your own limits. No one else can swim your laps.
Together, they decided that Collin wasn’t going to depend on special treatment or exceptions.
He would train, race, and compete like every other swimmer on the deck. And he did.
There were countless meets where Coaches forgot to tell officials that Collin was deaf—and Collin never cared. He didn’t need the reminders, the extra gestures, or the hand signals. He watched the strobe, anticipated the rhythm of the race, and launched off the block with an instinct honed through discipline, not accommodation.
Most importantly, he never wanted a built-in excuse.
“He never blamed anyone if he didn’t swim well,” Coach Tom says. “He didn’t rely on others remembering anything. He took ownership for every race.”
The irony, of course, is that the “deaf swimmer” was one of the best listeners Coach Tom had ever coached.
“Despite his disability,” he says, “Collin was the best listener I ever had. He read lips. He stared at me intently. He understood everything I asked—probably better than any swimmer I’ve ever coached.”
That intense focus propelled him through the sport. Year after year, Collin rose faster, stronger, and more confident. His improvement curve wasn’t just steep—it was relentless.
Outside the pool, he became an advocate for other deaf athletes, volunteering whenever he could. He knew firsthand what it meant to feel different in a world built for hearing people, and he made sure younger swimmers didn’t feel alone in it.
Yet nothing brings him more joy than representing Team USA. The 2025 Games mark his third Deaflympics, a rare achievement on its own. But what truly sets him apart isn’t just the medals or the experience—it’s the way he carries the weight of the captain’s title.
“There isn’t another person who takes his role as captain more seriously,” Coach Tom says. “If there’s anything he enjoys more than swimming, it’s helping and leading others.”
Everyone has a chance.
That’s something Collin believes in deeply—because he lived it.
From a ten-year-old boy trying to find his place in a hearing world to a three-time Deaflympian who leads his team with courage, humility, and heart, Collin Davis shows what happens when independence meets determination.
He swims his own race.
In his own lane.
On his own terms.
And now, he leads Team USA with the same clarity and purpose that carried him from YOTA practices in Durham to the global stage.
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Learn more about Including Swimmers with Disabilities: A Coach’s Guide
