Rachael Wahl approached her first time at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb., feeling only a bit tense. With 10,000 people in the stands gazing at her, it would be hard for this member of the Santa Maria Swim Club to rid herself of the butterflies in her stomach. Fortunately, this swimmer wanted all the butterfly she could get.
Competing in the women’s 100-meter butterfly in the first event, Wahl finished 78th out of 130 on June 29. And she managed to put her nerves behind her when it was time to get in the water. She took down the first 50 competitors in 28.9 seconds and finished in 33 seconds for a time of 1:01.96.
On July 2, Wahl (pictured below in a swim from December) returned to the pool to compete in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, this time finishing with a time of 2:16, only slightly slower than her previous best time.
“I wish the 200 fly had been better, but there was a lot of pressure,” Wahl said.
The swimmer said she did have fun at the trials, though it was bit overwhelming.
“It was a big learning experience for an SMSC athlete who has dropped more than four seconds in the event since November 2007,” Santa Maria Swim Club Head Coach Mike Ashmore said in a news release.
“The Olympic Trials have seen some of the most prolific performances in swimming history—with several world and American records falling each night,” Ashmore continued. “Times that won events four years ago aren’t even making finals in some cases. The point is clear: If you want to make an Olympic team or be successful in this sport, you need to start changing your perception of what is fast. The entire landscape of the sport is changing.”
These are daunting words for future competitive swimmers in the SMSC, but fortunately the athletes have a significant role model to look up to. After fluttering gracefully at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, what’s next for Wahl? She’s competing at the CA/NV Senior Championships and then moving on to the U.S. Open near the end of summer. She’ll then continue her education at Oregon State University in the fall. For this scholar and athlete, making splashes is a specialty both in and out of the water.
This article appears in Jul 10-17, 2008.