Season of training set to pay off for area swimmers

MARION – Three hours before sunrise, it is a safe bet that a swimmer's day has already begun.

Between 5 a.m. strength and conditioning sessions or the 5:30 pool arrivals, the dogged pursuit of faster times requires significant sacrifice and an elevated level of commitment.

Saturday at noon, prep swimmers across the state will compete in one of six regional girls' swimming meets, hungry to prove that a season's worth of sore muscles and nagging injuries can be overcome with a berth in the state meet.

'Swimming is a very difficult sport to train for,” Vinton-Shellsburg/Union Community Coach Mike Dominick said. 'If you're not in there with some kind of goal in mind, it's difficult to continue with the intensity of the practices.”

At the Southeast Polk regional, Vinton-Shellsburg/Union appears poised to have its first girls' swimming state qualifier in school history between standout freshman Arabella Shepard and senior-laden relay squads that include Lauren Krupa, Katie Freeland and Kassie Hennings.

'It's nice to hopefully kind of have this as their swan song going out; being able to qualify for state,” Dominick said of his seniors. 'That would be awesome.”

Many swimmers will schedule their taper – a calculated reduction of exertion in advance of a targeted competition for an overall increase in power due to arm and leg muscle recovery – for Saturday's regional meet, where the top 24 times in each event qualify for the state meet Nov. 7 at Marshalltown.

The majority of area schools will be at Linn-Mar Aquatic Center Saturday. Seventh-ranked Kennedy – the defending regional team champion – could qualify 10 swimmers for the second year in a row.

'They made a commitment that we're going to improve,” Kennedy Coach John Ross said. 'That we're going to have a great regional meet and we'll have a great state meet. They're a glimpse of what is to come. … We've got a lot of talented young ladies that are showing that competitive spirit.”

Kennedy senior captain Kirsten Siebenga could become a 13-event career state qualifier by qualifying in the four-event maximum Saturday. From the Mississippi Valley Conference, only Cedar Falls' Meghan Hackett, Erica Hsu of Iowa City West and Dubuque Senior's Jenna Willer have qualified for more events (10) entering Saturday's competition.

The Clinton and Linn-Mar diving regionals were both held Thursday at Linn-Mar. Kennedy senior Jayden Lovell won the Linn-Mar regional with an 11-dive score of 390.60. Other qualifiers for the state diving meet include the Linn-Mar duo of Brooklyn Corey and Katie Culver, Andrea Adam of Iowa City High, Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Skylar Meyers and Amara Taylor of Cedar Rapids Washington.

2015 SWIMMING & DIVING REGIONAL SITES

At Southeast Polk - Ankeny, Des Moines Lincoln, West Des Moines Dowling, Fairfield, Ottumwa, Southeast Polk, Vinton-Shellsburg/Union Community, Waterloo Swim Team, Williamsburg

At Linn-Mar - Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Washington, Decorah

Dubuque Hempstead, Dubuque Wahlert, Iowa City West, Keokuk, Linn-Mar, Tipton

At Clinton - Bettendorf, Burlington, Clinton, Davenport Central, Davenport North, Davenport West, Dubuque Senior, Iowa City High, Muscatine, Pleasant Valley

At Indianola (Indianola YMCA) - Ames, Des Moines East, Des Moines North, Des Moines Roosevelt, Grinnell, Indianola, Lewis Central, Oskaloosa, Waukee

At Fort Dodge - Algona, Boone, Cedar Falls, Charles City, Fort Dodge, Newton (NCMP), Sioux City Metro, Spencer, Storm Lake

At Johnston (Summit MS) - Atlantic, Carroll, Council Bluffs Lincoln, Des Moines Hoover, Johnston, Marshalltown, Mason City, Perry, West Des Moines Valley

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com