SYRACUSE - Wawasee freshman swimmer Brittany Robinson set her goals high this year, but even she didn't anticipate the kind of success she'd have to this point.
"My goal was to make it state, but I never thought I'd achieve it at the level I did," Robinson said.Robinson's first-place finishes in the 50 free and 100 fly at the Concord Sectional Saturday not only put her in the state finals, but put her among the top swimmers in the state.
Today at 6 p.m. in the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Robinson and the rest of the state-finalists will swim in the state prelims, with the top 16 in each event moving on to Saturday's 1 p.m. finals. The top eight will swim in the championship finals, while the next eight swim in consolation finals.
After setting pool and meet records with her time of 23.90 in the 50 free and her 55.95 in the 100 fly, Robinson's probably eyeing a race in the championship finals.
"I think I can do pretty good down there," she said.
In the 100 fly, Robinson will be the No. 3 swimmer, coming in with a time slower than only Penn's Nikki Hubbard (55.22) and Carmel's Rhiannon Sheets (55.94). Her 23.90 in the 50 free is also one of the top times in the state, trailing only Carmel's Megan Detro (23.79), Homestead's Tori Bagan (23.83) and Noblesville's Nora Brolsma (23.89).
And while she'll be competing with the top swimmers in the state, she doesn't seem to be overwhelmed, having swum with many in age-group meets, including being a teammate of Hubbard.
"We were in age-group together, so now with us both being at IUPUI, I'm looking really forward to it," Robinson said.
That age-group competition has also prepped Robinson for success, as she's still undefeated in individual events as a high school swimmer.
On top of not having any setbacks, the freshman is only getting faster.
In her final regular-season meet of the year, Robinson swam the 50 free in 24.81 and the 100 fly in 58.79. Five days later at the Northern Lakes Conference championship meet, she set pool and meet records with times of 23.95 and 56.50 in the respective events.
"I didn't think it was possible," Robinson said of swimming even faster times at sectionals. "It may have something to do with the experience I've gathered along the way, but I've also kept my stroke strong."
Those drops in times are attributed to her tapering, which has become a science to the swimming community.
In tapering, coaches work out a schedule with the swimmer, gradually cutting down the amount swam each day, making it possible to fully recover from each session. By the time the postseason arrives, a good tapering schedule has the swimmer cutting time along the way.
"It all depends on the kid," Wawasee coach Julie Robinson said.
And is Brittany on that schedule right now?
"Yep," Julie Robinson said. "She's ahead of schedule."
Luckily for Julie Robinson, she's coaching a swimmer she's very familiar with - her daughter.
"Brittany's always been a hard one to coach," Julie Robinson said. "I have an advantage, having coached her for a number of years in the age program. She never really practiced as hard as she could, but this year, she was able to swim with the boys. That helped her swim more to her capabilities."
That renewed work ethic in practice has resulted in Brittany doing things her mother didn't deem possible this year.
"To see her swimming a 55 (in the 100 fly) as a 15-year old is unbelievable," Julie Robinson said. "The goal, at least for me, was to see her swim a 56 this year."
Well, the girl that found her talent in the pool via swimming lessons, has achieved the goals she set out before the season, and is hoping to just stay consistent at this point.
"I just want to stay with the times I am swimming right now," she said.
"We're going to go down there and just enjoy it," her coach/mother said.
