Hard times can’t sink Mt. Pleasant swimming star David Mutter

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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David Mutter is a free agent, and a resilient one at that.

The Mt. Pleasant senior and WPIAL and PIAA champion swimmer had plans to continue his career at Alabama. He signed with the Crimson Tide in November.

But sweeping changes forced Alabama to make roster cuts.

For 2025-26, the SEC and NCAA decided to trim roster sizes in swimming. Men’s teams will be capped at 22, women at 35.

The roster limits will replace scholarship caps. The move stems from a landmark antitrust lawsuit — House vs. NCAA — with Name, Image and Likeness at the center of the contention.

The Alabama men’s roster of 34 was trimmed to 22. Mutter had his scholarship taken away and was forced to start over with his recruitment.

“They cut 12 off the team,” Mutter said. “I was one of the unlucky ones they chose to cut. It looks like they wanted to go with more freestylers.”

Purdue and Pitt already have been in contact with Mutter, a butterfly specialist, as well as some smaller D-I programs. Pitt has offered a scholarship, and Purdue could follow suit when Mutter visits there in early April.

Mutter said Alabama contacted him in January to tell him the news. He was surprised, then confused, then empathetic, but never angry.

Alabama was apologetic.

“No hard feelings,” Mutter said. “It doesn’t bother me. I understand everything that happened. Their coach even said he would help me find a new school.”

While he appreciated the offer, Mutter set out on his own, much like he did five years ago when he lost the man who got him started in the sport, his father, David.

The two were living the bachelor life together in Andrews, Texas. One night, though, everything changed.

Young David, an eighth grader at the time, told his father good night and went to bed. That was the last interaction they shared.

“The next morning, I got up and got ready for school. Swim practice was like my first period,” Mutter said. “I found my dad in the same place I had left him. He hadn’t moved. His skin had turned purple.”

The elder Mutter died in 2020 of a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis) traveled to his heart.

Gone before he could see his son make waves, David was 46.

“He’s the reason I started my swim career,” Mutter said of his dad. “I want to show him I didn’t give up. I want to show him more.”

With his mother out of the picture, Mutter moved to Mt. Pleasant to live with his legal guardian, Samantha Skokut.

“Gage”— family members call him by his middle name — stayed the course with swimming, putting in the time to improve and compete in large-scale events. His high school career soon blossomed, and he became part of a movement that took Mt. Pleasant swimming to new heights.

Mutter went on to win 10 gold medals: five WPIAL and five PIAA. He took two WPIAL and PIAA golds in the 100-yard butterfly and 200 medley relay and won a WPIAL and state title in the 500 freestyle.

Mutter holds WPIAL and PIAA records in the 100 fly and has earned All-American honors.

“He is an excellent swimmer, student and asset to our team,” Mt. Pleasant coach Sandy Felice said. “David is a very versatile swimmer and has earned other individual medals to prove that fact. He earned a silver PIAA medal his sophomore year and a gold PIAA medal his senior year in two different events, the 200 free and the 500 free.

“This year, David agreed to swim the 500 free event — not his usual event but one at which his teammates and coaches felt he could excel — in hopes to earn points for his team towards winning the state championship.”

Mt. Pleasant just won a PIAA team title, and the boys also were a WPIAL runner-up.

“I knew we had a chance to get it,” Mutter said of the state title. “It wasn’t anything out of reach. We had a really hard fight with Indiana.”

At his school, Mutter is part of this era’s Big Four. Mt. Pleasant? More like Mt. Rushmore.

Lily King (N.C. State), Kiersten O’Connor (UConn) and Joseph Gardner (Pitt) are also decorated Division I recruits. The word Olympics gets tossed around a lot with this crop.

“Us four, we all helped (swimming) blossom,” he said. “There are more sports to play at Mt. Pleasant (than the usual ones). We wanted swimming to be more.”

Felice said Mutter has set an example with his work ethic and unselfish mentality.

“Thanks to the ‘do it for the team’ attitude David is known for,” Felice said, “and the effort he and his teammates put into each and every workout throughout the season while keeping their eyes on the end goal by giving 100% in every swim, the points compiled were enough to finally win the state meet. David had a huge part in that win. He is the kind of swimmer, student and team player any D-I college could ever want.”

Mutter is looking for the right fit with his new school. Alabama’s qualities are a plus, but he wants a place where he can land the best possible computer science degree. The pool will help him achieve that goal. Beyond that, who knows?

“I mean, I want to go to the Olympics,” he said. “If it happens, it happens. I am thinking more academic wise. “

After all he has been through, Mutter wants others who encounter adversity to do the same.

“Rough patches will hit,” Mutter said. “You have to find a way to work through it.”

Mutter said he wants people to remember him for his perseverance.

“I want people to say I never gave up,” he said. “Even when hard times hit.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant