Sarah Thilo Lake City Year: Freshman Sport: Swimming

If she wasn’t a swimmer Sarah Thilo would probably be a long-distance runner.

The longer the race the better Thilo performs. But she did discover she has a little sprint in her freestyle legs last weekend as she helped the Lake City girls capture the State A-1 championship at Boise.

Thilo set a meet record in winning the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, .77 seconds. In her other individual event, she won the 500 freestyle (5:21.66), one-third the distance she enjoys most. And she was part of two state-record relays, the 200 freestyle (1:46.19) and 400 freestyle (3:45.37).

Lake City became the first girls team other than Boise High to win a state title. The Timberwolves posted 333 points. Well back in second was Capital (245). Traditional power Boise, which topped LC by two points last year, was eighth.

“It was more important to win the team (title),” Thilo said. “I was happy and proud to win my races, but I swam to help the team.”

It was Thilo’s effort in the 200 that had coach Carolyn MaGee overjoyed.

“That really surprised me,” MaGee said. “The 200 is a fairly short swim for her so it was pretty incredible. Sarah’s really developed in the past year as a distance freestyler. But we don’t swim those (long distances) at state.”

Swimming since she was eight, Thilo has tried several of the varied disciplines, from butterfly to backstroke. But she’s finally found the style best suited for her.

“I have a lot of endurance,” she said. “The longer the race it just seems I get warmed up.”

The state record in the 200 relay was expected, MaGee said. Thilo teamed with Lindsay Taggart, Carrie Kent and Brooke Sprague for gold.

But the 400 relay record was unexpected. Thilo, Sprague, Megan Taggart and Jennifer Patten practically swam by themselves as no other team challenged. Each swimmer recorded personal-best splits, MaGee said.

“They broke the record by two-tenths of a second,” MaGee said. “It took the best from each one for it to happen.”

Thilo, an honors student, was the lead swimmer in both relays.

With nine of 12 state qualifiers returning next year, MaGee believes the state title is just the first of many top honors for Thilo and friends.

Thilo, who swims year-round, took two days off after state but returned to the pool Tuesday to prepare for upcoming USS meets. She hopes to qualify for junior nationals in the mile.

“They all work really hard, but nobody works harder than Sarah,” MaGee said. “She’s always been right in the middle of the pack, not a standout. But all the hard work is paying off.”

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