The news of being named to the Indiana Swimming and Diving High School Hall of Fame was a nice surprise for Lacey Locke.
“It was a perfect way to put a cherry on top of my entire swimming career,” the 2013 Carmel High School graduate said. “I feel like it’s everyone’s hope to make the Indiana Hall of Fame. I hoped for that and when I got the call, I was obviously thrilled because it’s such an amazing feat because it’s such a competitive swimming state.”
Colleen McNutt, a 1981 CHS graduate, will join Locke as members of the class of 2023. They will be officially inducted April 15 in a ceremony at Primo South Conference and Banquet Center in Indianapolis. Carmel resident Ron Zhiss, who won three state individual titles at South Bend Adams High School, also is being inducted as a member of the class of 2023.
Locke was asked to be one of the speakers at the induction ceremony. Swimmers are eligible 10 years after completing their high school career.
Locke was part of 11 state titles, three in individual races, and was a member of eight winning relay teams She won the 100-yard backstroke in 2010 and 2011 and the 200 individual medley in 2011.
Locke is a medical malpractice attorney who lives in Chicago,
“Swimming has made me into the person that I am today, and I implement the skills in everything I learned into being an attorney, being a friend and being a daughter,” she said. “I owe it all to swimming. It teaches you confidence and being a true team player, which is something you need to be successful in the world.”
Locke, who swam at Northwestern University, got her law degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Locke’s mother, Nancy (Miller) Locke, was a state champion for Brebeuf Jesuit in the 100 breaststroke.
“I’m humbled to be honored with all those great swimmers,” McNutt said. “I had no idea I was going to be inducted, because we didn’t win the state (team) championship.”
McNutt, whose maiden name is Metzgar, set a then-state record in 50 freestyle in the prelims as a junior but finished second in the finals. She also finished second in the state in the 50 free as a senior.
She won the 100 breaststroke as a senior and was on the winning 200 medley relay team.
As a senior, McNutt was the first Carmel Swim Club competitor to make a national Junior Olympics time cut for the national meet.
McNutt went on to have a successful career at Miami (Ohio) University.
McNutt started swimming competitively in ninth grade. In those years, Carmel Junior High School had ninth-graders, so she had only three years of high school swimming.
After college, she turned her love toward golf. She has won several golf titles at New Albany (Ohio) Country Club.
“My early years in competitive swimming, which I thoroughly enjoyed and had success, have carried over into my adult life, on land, in golf,” she said.
A 1979 Adams graduate, Zhiss won the state title in the 100 breaststroke for three consecutive years (1977-79). Zhiss also was on the winning 200 medley relay in the 1978 state finals.
Zhiss, who has lived in Carmel for six years, owned Hoosier Closets with his wife, Carolyn, for six years and sold it at the end of 2022.
Zhiss, who swam at UCLA for four years, was a two-time All-American and on the 1982 NCAA championship team.
“One of our three sons, Matthew, was also a breaststroker and swam at Kalamazoo College,” Zhiss said.
