Iowa City teen receives national honor for his heroic actions

Nate Waikel recalls just resting on a foot bridge at Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville in December 2012. Then he saw what turned out to be 4-year-old Nate Franzwa 'fly into [a nearby] creek like a rag doll,” Waikel said.

'It was mostly just instinct,” Waikel, now 16, said of his response.

In just a few seconds, Waikel plugged into the icy Muddy Creek to retrieve Franzwa and return him to his father, who was just steps away. His actions received statewide attention in August 2013 when Gov. Terry Branstad presented the Iowa City teenager with the governor's lifesaving award. Today, Waikel will be honored with a new national award in Bloomington, Ind.

'I wasn't really thinking about [myself],” he said. 'I just thought about making sure that Nate was all right.”

Todd Waikel, Waikel's father and University of Iowa Diving Coach, said he was not surprised by his son's response since his nine kids always are looking out for each other. But he was most impressed with just how quickly his son reacted.

'He didn't look like, ‘hmmm what should I do?'” said Todd Waikel. 'It was am immediate reaction ... he just jumped in.”

The new honor is named after legendary University of Indiana Diving Coach Hobie Billingsley, who helped the Hoosiers hone their skills on the way to Big 10, national and Olympic fame during his 30-year tenure. Billingsley once called one his divers 'my hero,” a term that stuck and now is the origin for the 'Hobie's Heroes award,” something the namesake feels is desperately needed.

'We honor people with all kinds of awards, so I thought it would be a good idea to do something for the kids,” he said. 'This is like the Medal of Honor for kids 18 years old and younger.” Billingsley and his large alumina network that created the medal and certificate monitor the news to find actions like Waikel's. Those former divers were pleasantly surprised by the actions youths like Waikel have done.

'It's hard to imagine a 14-year-old kid doing what they've done,” said Jim Everroad, who was a diver at Indiana from 1961-62.

Todd Waikel coached at Indiana earlier in his career before coming to Iowa and calls Billingsley a legend. Despite this connection, he was unaware of the recognition that has existed for a few months. Waikel's son is the third teen to receive the distinction.

One day the 87-year-old Billingsley hopes to create a hall to honor all of the future Hobie heroes.

'This way the kids will be honored, and it will not be forgotten,” Billingsley said of the award.