Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9103010655
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Now she wins.
Carolyn, 10, is a member of the Roanoke Valley Gators swim team that is going to Charlottesville Sunday for the Virginia YMCA State Championship. She and Mandy Lippitt, Michelle Roach, Molly Henderson and Emily Whichard, all 10, hope to help their team become the top 9- and 10-year-old swimmers in the state.
"These girls can win every event for 9- and 10-year-olds," says head coach Bobby Braaten.
At an age when most kids are simply having fun, these five girls are focused on winning. But they have fun doing it, even with practicing two hours each day.
"I have to practice or I don't get to go to a meet," says Carolyn. "Meets are fun. . . . The hotels are neat," she exclaims. "And sometimes you get to miss school," Emily adds.
Their training routine includes sit-ups, pullups and stretches and then what they call "an easy warmup of a 1,000-yard swim." They also swim 3,500 to 6,000 yards - 1,650 yards equal a competitive mile - to sharpen their strokes and quicken their paces.
Braaten says 60 to 80 percent of meet preparation is mental, however. While the girls are team members all the way, they compete as much against each other as they do against the clock. Braaten uses this competition to push the swimmers.
As Carolyn explains it, "Bobby tells us how to do it, and we do it."
"These girls have had a little taste of success," Braaten says.
The five also are listed among the top 10 swimmers for all events in their age group in a statewide league.
Carolyn and Mandy also are close to being ranked in the top 16 in the nation, Braaten says. He predicts that Carolyn, Mandy and Michelle will be among the top 20 in the state when they enter the 11- and 12-year age group.
In the Sunday meet each girl will participate in two individual events and two relays or three events and one relay. All are well-practiced in the execution of a winning butterfly, breast stroke, freestyle and backstroke.
"We'll see what happens," says Braaten. Other swim teams and coaches in the state "know we're good now. They know we're out there."
The teammates also are confident. They want to beat everybody.
And Molly says that as she steps up on the block to compete, she'll be thinking about her own swim times and "beating a record." S11 S10 SWIM Swim
by CNB