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Year-round club swimming programs have made age irrelevant at the high school level.
Just ask James Monroe?s Brad Allison and Brooke Point?s Caroline Wanner.
Both are sophomores and practically guppies compared to some of the older swimmers in the area, but that didn?t matter at all this high school season.
They?ve been been swimming year-round for a while?Allison with the Rappahannock YMCA Stingrays and Wanner with the Sharks Swim Team in Stafford County?which has helped advance them to an elite level at such young ages.
?It?s always been that way,? said Stingrays coach Bob Herlinger. ?All the best swimmers come from the club teams. They don?t just swim high school.?
Through commitment and hard work, Allison and Wanner showed marked improvement from their freshman years and racked up top times and first-place finishes.
Allison won the Group A/AA state championship in the 200 freestyle, coming home in a school-record 1:43.73, more than two seconds better than the second-place finisher.
He also won individual titles in the 100 freestyle (49.69) and 50 freestyle (22.58) at the Battlefield District meet to lead the Yellow Jackets to the team championship.
?I am a self-motivated person, and my competition is extremely tough, so I have to do whatever I can to be one step ahead,? Allison said via email. ?However, my main push is that I am never satisfied, and I always want more.?
Said Herlinger: ?Brad is very intuitive. He?s someone [that] if I give him a practice, he?ll question why is that good for [him]. He?s very thoughtful. He?s always thinking of ways to make [himself] better and then going out and doing it.?
Wanner also had an array of impressive finishes, from her first-place showings in the 200 individual medley (2:25.0) and 400 freestyle (4:34.77) at the Commonwealth District meet to her first- and third-place finishes in the 200 IM at the Northwest Region and Group AAA meet, respectively.
She bounced back from a bad preliminary day to post the fifth-best time in the 500 freestyle at the state meet (5:05.76).
?I think the success she had last year as a freshman encouraged her to work harder in the offseason. She had a good long course season over the summer and she just worked harder in practice,? Brooke Point coach Andy Steuart said.
Swimming year-round at the club level has helped Allison and Wanner elevate their performances.
?I moved up to a better group in practice for my year-round team, and I think I have been working harder,? Wanner said.
Said Allison: ?The Rays have been a good fit for me. When I was younger, there were several older swimmers on the team that were successful in the pool, and I wanted to be as good as them. I had to constantly push myself to keep up with them, and it created the intensity that I like to have at practice each day.?
As mere sophomores, the future is very bright for Allison and Wanner. Both are setting their goals high for next year and beyond.
Wanner is gunning for All-American honors and should be hearing from college recruiters in the near future.
Herlinger says Allison is comparable to past great male swimmers he?s had in his club program, like Florida State standout Josh Friedel (Mountain View) and N.C. State?s Michael Camper (Riverbend).
?He?s going to make that next step,? Herlinger said. ?He?s young and still growing.?
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Nathan Warters: 540/374-5442
nwarters@freelancestar.com
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Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/sports/2013/04/03/all-area-swimming-for-allison-wanner-why-wait-to-succeed/
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