Four local swimmers aim for Olympics
Emma Schanz, 18, just finished her freshman year swimming for UCLA. She’s now taking the racing skills she honed in Benny’s Colville Inn to take on some of the best swimmers in the world. Schanz will compete in the 100-meter backstroke; 200-meter backstroke; 200-meter individual medley and 200-meter breaststroke.
“I always watched the Olympics on TV and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to be there,’ ” Schanz said. “I never imagined that I would be at this point right now.”
But Schanz is not alone.
Despite having no area high-school swimming programs, Schanz is one of four local swimmers who have qualified to compete at CenturyLink Center in Omaha. The trials start on Sunday and continue through Friday.
Joining her are Daniel Roy, 16, from Gonzaga Prep, the national 18-and-under champion in the 200 breaststroke; Taylor McCoy of Pullman, who qualified in the women’s 200 backstroke; and Sarah Nicholls, a sophomore at Central Valley who qualified in the 100 breaststroke. Nicholls swims for the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team.
“Swimming is not a very big sport in Spokane,” said Roy, who swims for the Spokane Area Swimming team. “It’s kind of amazing that we have three people going this year.”
He didn’t include Schanz because she moved last year to Los Angeles.
“I’m pretty sure everybody in this area knows the Emma Schanz story,” Roy said. “It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. I saw her three weeks ago in Santa Clara. She came in second in an international meet. That’s pretty good.”
All the swimmers face daunting odds. They first must swim preliminary heats that whittle each event to the top 16 swimmers.
Those 16 swimmers then return later that same night to race for the final eight positions. Those eight swimmers will compete the next day in the finals and the top two finishers will make the U.S. Olympic team.
Schanz, who said she has the best chance of making the finals in the 200 breaststroke, said she has fond memories of the three-lane pool in which she often had to dodge around birthday parties and lap swimmers to get in her workouts.
“Training in that pool really made me appreciate what I have now,” she said. “I don’t think I would have done it any differently. It was really tough, but I’m glad I trained there.”
Her UCLA teammates still ask her about the pool which forced Schanz come up with special workouts to compensate for the pool not being competition length.
“They always think I’m from the middle of nowhere,” she said. “My technique definitely isn’t as good as everyone else at UCLA, but my coach helps me. I think that will definitely show at the Olympic trials.”
Schanz, a two-time member of the U.S. Junior National Team who swam with the Spokane Waves Aquatic Team, said anything can happen in big meets.
“It’s really hard to say what place I’m going to get,” she said. “There are so many factors. There is so much stress and people react to stress differently.
“I like racing under stress,” she continued. “I’m so excited. This is going to be a really great meet.”