Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990 TAG: 9003300127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Summerlin, of Roanoke County, has developed into a swimmer of modest national success. He finished in the top 20 in the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Short Course Senior Nationals last week, and this weekend he leaves for the National YMCA Championships in Orlando, Fla.
A senior at North Cross School, Summerlin is another swimmer who has advanced from winning Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association Gators ribbons to having an opportunity for a college scholarship because of his water works.
Summerlin, 17, has grant-in-aid offers from Virginia, Stanford, North Carolina, Penn State and Tennessee. He is going to visit the first three of those schools and already has been to Penn State. Summerlin has been accepted at North Carolina and is expecting to hear from Stanford and UVa next week.
"Sometimes I'm leaning toward one and sometimes toward another," Summerlin said. "But if I have the chance to go to Stanford, that might be it. It's a school with fabulous academics and it has a swimming program that wins national championships . . . I wouldn't have any problem about going that far away. You can always come home summers."
Summerlin's swimming has improved as he has grown. He said he has enjoyed the sport since he was a young child, but four years ago he wondered whether he would progress in the sport.
"I wasn't swimming as well as I wanted, and it was frustrating," he said. "Then, Doug Fonder moved from Richmond to Roanoke and began coaching us. He came here just in time for me."
Now, the 5 a.m. workouts at the LancerLot in Vinton have become routine for Summerlin. Two years ago, his 400 individual medley time was 4 minutes, 30 seconds. By last year, it had improved to 4:04. He said he is hoping for a 3:57 clocking at the YMCA meet in Florida. His 200 individual medley time has dropped from 2:08 to 1:51. He also will swim the 200 butterfly in Orlando.
"Dan has made super leaps in his times in the last two years," Fonder said. "He's shown what you can do if you work hard. He's still an honor student, and he's going to college to swim."
Summerlin, the son of an anesthesiologist, suffered a broken ankle last summer while climbing a fence on a rafting trip. Because of his voracious appetite for swimming, he spent little time in a cast, and the time in the water sped the healing process. He went right back to workouts and competition after the injury.
"If I don't practice for about a week, it really shows in my times," Summerlin said.
Summerlin credits the improved local swimming program for his progress. He said the Gators' opportunity to train at the LancerLot in cold weather has done a lot for local swimming.
"The program here should just keep improving because the young kids have had a chance to swim more at an early age," Summerlin said. "And having other people wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning pushes everybody."
Summerlin and his teammates practice from 5-6:45 a.m. four days a week, then about 2 1/2 hours after school. On some Saturdays, they practice for 12 hours, with breaks for meals.
Summerlin figures they might swim as many as 400 laps of the LancerLot's 25-yard pool in a day.
"Swimming has helped my discipline," said Summerlin, who has a 3.4 grade-point average. "I know when I have a week off from swimming, I tell myself I have all afternoon to get my homework done, and then you just put it off. When you're swimming four or five hours a day, you learn to make good use of every moment."
by CNB