Chase and Sadie: Tears fall, love flows during ceremony to dedicate pool in Chase's honor

IndyStar is documenting Chase and Sadie Smith's lives as they settle into a new marriage and battle Chase's terminal cancer.

Brad Smith knew before the ceremony ever started that the tears would fall.

They already were. People were streaming in, hugging him, hugging Chase and Sadie, then taking their seats in front of photos of Chase, muscular and healthy, through the years by the pool.

The time has gone so fast. And there hasn't been enough of it, not yet. Not enough time with Chase.

It seems like yesterday, Brad remembers, he and Kelli waking up to his 6-year-old son watching swim videos on Saturday mornings, instead of cartoons. Wearing a Speedo, swim cap and goggles, practicing flip turns on the sofa.

He remembers 9-year-old Chase wanting to dress just like Brad, the swim coach at Indian Creek. Chase wore a tie, carried a clipboard and a stopwatch to help his dad coach sectionals that year.

Then came Chase's own victories in the sport. Ten state titles at age 10. Second in the nation at age 12. And then the cancer that interrupted an elite swimming career at 13.

It was that cancer, mixed with love and pride, that left Brad in tears Sunday afternoon as he spoke at the ceremony re-naming his high school's pool after his son — the Chase M. Smith Natatorium.

"Chase, there is no one that deserves this honor more than you," Brad said. "We have had many great swimmers come through our program and you are all a part of Chase. But Chase you stand out through your crazy obsession of the sport, your complete devotion to the team, your persistent drive for excellence, your incomparable leadership and your continuous fight to beat the odds."

Chase was given three to five months to live in late April, after tumors from Ewing's sarcoma spread throughout his body. Lately, he has been suffering pain and unable to eat much. On Sunday, he looked very thin but also very proud.

"When this was built, I was learning to walk here, growing up here as a baby cheering on 19 years worth of high school teams with my dad," Chase said earlier this month about learning the pool would be named in his honor. "And then also giving back at the same time." Coaching younger kids. Leading his own teams.

"This has been my life," Chase said. "And I've given my life to this pool."

As people came to the podium to speak about Chase, the audience became emotional. Many wiped away tears. Bittersweet tears. They were happy, too, happy that Chase is here to see the impact he's made, to see a pool that will bear his name.

"I want to thank you for your incredible witness, your courage, the impact that you've had on this community," said Tim Edsell, superintendent of Nineveh Hensley Jackson Schools. "Tough times never last. Tough people do. How tough are you? You are undoubtedly the toughest young man that I have ever met. And I thank you."

Swimming and service

Chase wore a pink button-up shirt and blue pants with brown shoes. His wife Sadie sat on one side of him and his mom Kelli on the other.

He didn't speak and it was hard to read his emotions, with his mask on. But his parents say there is nothing in this world — besides Jesus and Sadie — that means more to Chase than swimming.

When he was first diagnosed with a tumor in his left femur, the obsession with the sport was so strong Chase said, "Cut off my leg. I just want back in the pool," Brad said.

"There is no doubt that Chase loves swimming, a place where he could put cancer on the shelf and forget that world," Brad said. And the Indian Creek pool was the place "that gave Chase motivation, friendships and life, a place that gave him respite and healing." 

Sunday's ceremony began with Luke Skobel, Indian Creek's principal.

"We are all here today because Chase has touched our lives … from near or far throughout his journey," Skobel said. "Like many here, I'm sure it was Chase who taught your children to swim in this very pool. With all these memories, there are two things that are constant and apparent. Chase is always here — and sharing his love of the water, he's bringing others into it."

Tony Young remembers first seeing Chase on the deck of a pool. He said Chase always got out of the water after a race with a determined look on his face, as if he was ready for whatever was next.

Young, who is executive director of Indiana Swimming, said people often ask him if he would ever want to go back to coaching.

"Yes," he said Sunday, "if I could coach Chase Smith." 

It's not just Chase's accomplishments in the pool, Young said. Chase has volunteered at Camp Allendale, taught hundreds of kids to swim, raised money to buy gaming systems for the oncology unit at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and given his time to Emmanuel Church.

Coaches often ask Chase to talk with younger swimmers who have been struggling during practice. Chase will take those swimmers under his wing and be a constant support.

"We see how he lives his life," Young said. "To me that is the legacy that is going to be left with his name on the wall of the natatorium."

Young presented Chase with the Gene Lee award, which is given each year to a top senior athlete by Indiana Swimming.

"When you get right down to it, there was no other choice," Young said.

No other choice but Chase.

'Take every moment you have'

Indian Creek's Athletic Director Derek Perry called the Smith family to the front of the gym. Next to them was a stand covered in a blanket.

"At this time it is my honor on this date Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020 …" Perry pulled off the cover to reveal a plaque with the words "Chase M. Smith Natatorium."

The crowd stood and clapped. They clapped so long that Chase finally put his arms out in a downward motion encouraging the audience to sit.

At the bottom of the plaque that will forever hang in Chase's natatorium are the words he spoke shortly after his April prognosis.

"The precious people in your life, the amount of time they are in your life, take every moment you have," he said. "Enjoy and give everything you can in those relationships and know there is so much possible with love when your love includes God."

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.