Ruby Martin ‘leaning toward’ swimming for Iowa City West

IOWA CITY — Ruby Martin has a surprise for Iowa City West girls' swimming coach Byron Butler.

And the rest of the state.

Maybe.

Fresh off a win in the U.S. Open Championships in East Meadow, N.Y., Martin is 'leaning toward' joining the Women of Troy swimming team.

'I want to,' she said Thursday. 'I want a little taste of what high school swimming is all about.'

Martin, 17, has never swam on her high school team, pursuing her collegiate and Olympic goals as a member of the Iowa Flyers club team.

But this is her senior year, her last chance to experience swimming as a 'team' sport.

'I'd like to step up and be a leader,' she said. 'I think it'd be something fun to do and I'd like to represent West.'

Martin's talent in the pool is unquestioned.

She made the finals in the U.S. Olympic Trials last year in the 200-meter butterfly, placing fourth and just missing a spot on the United States team. And last week, she captured that event at the U.S. Open, taking gold in a time of 2 minutes, 10.18 seconds.

She is being recruited by some of the best college programs in the country and is among the hopefuls for the 2020 U.S. Olympic team.

'Ruby is an exceptional talent who masters that talent with a work ethic,' said Nathan Mundt, her coach with the Flyers. 'She is working to improve every single day.

'I really think she can be a member of that Olympic team as early as 2020. All the doors are open for her. It's really kind of all on the table.'

Martin is thinking 2020, especially after winning the U.S. Open title.

'It definitely was a step in the right direction,' she said. 'It was a good confidence booster.'

Martin, whose brother Oliver was a standout athlete at West last year and now is a freshman on the Michigan football team, didn't even consider swimming in the U.S. Open until things 'didn't go as planned' at the national championships. The U.S. Open has qualifications to meet, but is open to any swimmer in the world.

She went in seeded sixth in the 200 butterfly, but was second heading into the finals.

'She really did it perfectly ... she just executed the race,' Mundt said of her final swim. 'She is a great racer, very tough-minded, as well.'

Mundt has been working on getting Martin to focus on the competition instead of worrying about things like her time.

'I tend of overthink things sometimes,' Martin said.

She put her 'gameface on' for the final.

'It was great. I loved it,' she said. 'I kind of wasn't expecting it, but I kind of was.'

Her next big move will be college and she's considering several. She can't make any official visits until September, so she's not stressing about it right now.

'I'm still pretty open,' she said.

And there's always the possibility of swimming for West this fall.

'I'm leaning toward it,' she said.

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