When he was 13 years old, John Servati came to a youth swim meet at the University of Alabama.

The kid from Tupelo, Miss., asked his Shockwave Aquatics Swim Team coach, Lucas Smith, a question.

"He was already pretty fast," Smith recalled. "He said, 'Coach, do you think I'll ever be fast enough to go to Alabama? This is where I want to go.'

"I told him, 'You could make it here one day. I think that you can.' He looked at me and said, 'Really? Coach, thank you for saying that.'

"It was one of those kid dreams that got fulfilled. He couldn't wait to get there when he signed."

Servati, a 21-year-old junior and a member of the UA swimming and diving team, died at DCH Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained when a retaining wall collapsed on him in the basement of a home on 22nd Avenue. He and his girlfriend were taking refuge from the storms Monday when the wall collapsed.

UA confirmed his death Tuesday morning.

Smith coached Servati from age 11. He got the news Monday night around 11:45 p.m. that Servati was being taken to the hospital. Less than an hour later, he received word that the young swimmer had died.

"It gets harder as the shock wears off," Smith said. "When a kid dies, it's hard to take. It's one of those things, he was just a golden child.

"I've been getting texts and emails and phone calls. A lot of them are his former teammates who are from Tupelo who swam with him when he was in high school but don't swim in college. John was a stallion. It's hard to believe it when it happens to someone like that."

Smith admired his former pupil, and not just for his swimming ability.

"I don't know where to begin," Smith said. "Man, as a person, John was a great guy. He was a great Christian, he was strong in his faith. You could tell that by the way he lived his life, not the way he talked about it.

"He cared. This summer he couldn't wait to go to some Christian camp and help others."

That quality carried over to his time at UA, where he did volunteer work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of West Alabama and area churches.

"This is a young man who volunteered to help me coach my son's baseball team last year, coach-pitch baseball team," said UA assistant coach James Barber. "In fact, he was going to start working my son's baseball team this week.

He was always quick to say I'll help you do this or move that. He was that kind of guy."

Barber recalled Servati's recruiting visit in the fall of his senior year of high school. He went to an Alabama football game and to a reception at the Alabama Aquatic Center.

"John, he had a very strong grip, he was a strong guy," Barber said. "I remember John coming up and shaking my hand and telling me how great it was here and he wanted to be a member of the Crimson Tide family.

"I'll always remember John for the big smile, the big heart and the big handshake."

Anna Rae Gwarjanski, a senior UA swimmer, posted on her Twitter account that Servati "died a hero. Held up a concrete wall long enough for his girlfriend to get out from under it before it collapsed again on him."

Said UA team captain Phillip Deaton, "John was a hero every day, just constantly doing great things, so the fact that he did that doesn't surprise me at all," Deaton said.

Smith remembers Servati for being a teammate as much as for being a superior athlete.

"He was always a hard worker," Smith said. "It didn't matter how hard the workout was or what kind of day he'd had, he'd always find a way to get through it and go hard. As a teammate, John would always push himself to go faster just to help his team.

"John spent a lot of his time trying to motivate others. He was a servant. One of the neat things about John was if somebody was trying to get better on a certain part of a race, he would go help them. He helped people his own age, or if it was a younger kid he would say, 'Coach, I've got this,' and go help them.

"He loved it when other people on the team swam fast. That's rare. A lot of people don't have that quality."

Deaton swam with Servati and also lived with him when the two were freshman roommates. They often roomed together at road meets.

"He had just a genuine heart, he cared about every one of his teammates," Deaton said. "I can definitely say he's one of the best teammates I've ever had. He pushed me as a swimmer and as a person, and I'll miss him very much.

"My freshman year, we swim the same events so we're competing against each other and together. I'll never forget one of the dual meets in the spring semester we both swam some really fast backstroke times and he just got out of the pool and gave me a great big hug. He was happy for himself, but probably more so happy for me that we had just accomplished a goal together."

Alabama head swimming and diving coach Dennis Pursley was out of town on a recruiting trip, but issued a statement.

"John Servati was an extraordinary young man of great character and warmth who had a tremendously giving spirit," Pursley said. "During this incredibly difficult time, our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to all who had the good fortune to know him. He will forever be in our hearts and a part of the Crimson Tide legacy."

Servati, a general business major, was recently one of a dozen UA swimmers named to the SEC Academic Honor roll, an honor reserved for those with at least a 3.0 grade-point average. Also a member of the Dean's List, Servati swam freestyle and backstroke events for the Tide and scored at the Southeastern Conference championship meet.

Servati's teammates have met and been given access to grief counseling.

"The team, right now, they're managing the best they can," Barber said.

Said Deaton, "We're just sticking together and trying to get through it."

UA Director of Athletics Bill Battle also issued a statement.

"We are all saddened to learn of the untimely death of John Servati," Battle said. "He was a model student-athlete who excelled in his sport of swimming, his pursuit of excellence in academics, and his value as a son, brother, friend and teammate to all who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to John's family and friends as we grieve his passing."