Senior swims where needed
By Rich Fisher, The Packet Group
Caroline Kelly is a myth buster.
Over the past four years, the Lawrence High senior has put to rest the notion that a club swimming background is the only way to high school success and an ensuing ticket to college.
In fact, Kelly may be better off these days because she stayed away from the rigors of club, which is not for everyone. Her competitive swimming outside of high school has mostly consisted of the Lawrence Lightning.
”I debated (going club) this year because I do need that extra push,” she said. “I’m very competitive, I hate to lose. So, I did contemplate it but I figured I’ve been doing well so far, so why even chance it? My biggest fear is burning out.”
And burnout is a common ailment amongst club swimmers, but Kelly shows no signs of it. Last Thursday she won the 100 and 50 free and was on the winning 400 free relay in the Cardinals win over Nottingham. The previous Tuesday she won the 500 and 100 and was on the winning 200 and 400 free relays.
”She’s an unbelievable swimmer,” Lawrence coach Mike Underwood said. “She’s got a very bright future in swimming. You could put her in any lane, any event, and you know you’ll get a good result from her.
”She’s a jack of all trades, she can do the 200 freestyle if I wanted her to, I could put her in the four, the butterfly, backstroke. Anything I ask her to do, she can do and she can do it well — in most cases win the event.”
It is in the freestyle, however, that Kelly is making her mark. Last year, in her first trip to the state meet, she was 14th in the 100 and 17th in the 50.
”States was a blast,” she said. “I missed it my freshman year by .02, so that was my goal last year. I kept thinking about it, so just being in that meet was awesome.”
With personal bests of 28.33 and 1:01.6, she is within a second of both school records.
”I’ve been working on the 200,” she said. “But those are my main events. I’m definitely excited to try and get the records.”
Although Kelly shied away from club, she has been swimming since age 5 under the tutelage of Lawrence legend Lynn Shields, whose son owns two LHS records. Shields also coaches PASDA and runs a pre- and post-season Pennington Aquatics program.
If compliments were Christmas presents, Shields will have a crowd under her tree next week.
”Lynn Shields taught me how to swim, she started training me from the start,” Kelly said. “I don’t know when I haven’t been training with her. She’s also trained a lot of other swimmers on this team. She’s definitely why I’m still doing this. She is like the swimming guru. She knows everything.
”And the coaches here are awesome too. They definitely know what they’re talking about.”
One of the assistants, in fact, is Kristen Shields, daughter of Lynn. As for the head coach, he speaks of Kelly like she speaks of Lynn Shields.
”She is definitely a force to be reckoned with,” Underwood said. “Everyone in the CVC knows about her. It’s nice to see that kind of dedication and results out of a swimmer that doesn’t do club. It’s a real tribute to her.”
This year, Kelly has been a leader on the girls team and hopes to place at states. She would also like to win a Mercer County title before it’s all said and done.
”I’ve had seconds, thirds, fourths,” she said with a laugh. “It goes up and down. I came so close on year. It’d be nice to finally get a first.”
And when it’s over, she will set her sights on the next level.
”As of now, my top three choices are University of New Hampshire, Towson and West Chester,” she said. “I’ve had my recruiting trips for them, and they call and e-mail.”
And it matters not to them, whether Kelly ever swam club or not.