Katherine Bell Hill
Published: 5/13/2026
1992-2004
Favorite or funniest or most embarrassing swimming memory:
Watching Elizabeth Hill Newman (‘04) accidentally loop her swim tether around a Vasa Trainer on deck without realizing it, dive in, and swim sprint butterfly for several minutes until she pulled the entire Vasa Trainer in the pool and finally made it to the other side. She then went on to become National Champion in the 200m butterfly…just saying.
Your pinnacle/ peak performance:
My peak/pinnacle performance was at Summer Senior Nationals in 2004 at Stanford, which was my final Dynamo meet prior to attending college there. I dropped 8 seconds in the 200 breaststroke to make the championship final, ultimately placing 6th and getting my first Trials cut. It was an exciting culmination of my Dynamo career!
How has your time at Dynamo impacted your life:
Let’s just say that after Coach Ed Spencer’s infamous Friday Fly Days, nothing else in life has been quite that hard, and that includes medical training and childbirth! In all seriousness, I feel so fortunate to have had such amazing coaches and teammates during my formative years, many of whom still play an active role in my life today. I think swimmers, especially Dynamo swimmers, are truly the most awesome, interesting, and resilient of people. Dynamo played a quintessential role in developing me not just as an athlete, but also as a human.
Where are you today?
After Dynamo, I headed to the west coast. I was recruited to Stanford by Jason Turcotte, who was the assistant coach to Richard Quick there before he came to Dynamo as head coach. In California, I met and married the love of my life, Matt Hill, in 2010. We almost became California lifers, staying in the SF Bay Area for almost 17 years until COVID brought us back to Atlanta to be closer to family (and Dynamo of course). We are the proud parents of 3 children, Connor (10), Kaitlyn (7), and Ethan (4), who make sure life is never boring, and all 3 recently started swimming at Dynamo in some capacity.
Professionally, I recently started AthleatMD, a virtual, multi-state medical + nutrition practice focused on athletes who need help with nutrition, along with an awesome sports dietitian. I first got interested in athlete nutrition as an undergrad, and started doing clinical research on athletes and health complications of underfueling. After medical school and Pediatric residency, I spent 4 years as medical faculty at Stanford working primarily with adolescents with eating disorders before joining an early stage eating disorder startup. In addition to my own practice, I also serve as a medical consultant to early stage digital health startups.
I no longer swim regularly, unless it’s a beautiful summer day and the stars align (unlike Ashley Daly Morgan, who might just make the 2028 Olympics in her 40s). I do enjoy racing an occasional 25 or 50 for fun. I recently started playing tennis, which has been slightly helpful for my coordination on land!
Are you open to helping other Dynamo alums with networking? Yes, absolutely
(Katherine Bell, Allison Bell, Julia Schatten, Elizabeth Hill)