Saturday, July 24, 2004

Stroke of genius

Local swimmers head to Long Course Swim Championships

By Pat McCann

Executive Sports Editor

747-5068 / pmccann@pcnh.com

Swimming is a sport competed mostly in anonymity, unless it happens to be an Olympic year.

Panama City Swim Team members Kevin Faulhaber and Carlee McDonald are accustomed to that journey. They won’t be getting worldwide attention next week, but they will be able to put a stopwatch to their training and commitment.

The Southeastern Long Course Swimming Championships starting Thursday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., bring together top youth swimmers in the region.

Both Faulhaber and McDonald will compete in the age 11-12 division in a number of events. Their coach, Nicole Garner, said the event provides a gauge for their development. Each swimmer had to reach qualifying times to compete in the three-day meet at the University of Alabama.

"When you’re doing anything you need to have a goal, whether or not that means making a cut time," Garner said. "That helps you in your training

knowing what it takes to improve to get to that goal.

"With Kevin and Carlee, both have been to Southeasterns before. Most of the time you run into the same people you ran into previously, so it helps you estimate if you’ve really improved with people they compete against."

The Long Course Championships are held in a 50-meter pool. Garner said Faulhaber and McDonald met qualifying standards during a meet in Tallahassee last month.

Garner said that Faulhaber is strongest in freestyle and backstroke. He will swim the 50-, 100-, 200- and 400-meter freestyle, the 50 and 100 backstroke and the 200 individual medley.

McDonald will swim the 50 freestyle, 50 and 100 backstroke and 50 and 100 butterfly.

"Her strength is backstroke and butterfly, but she’s similar to Kevin in that she’s a very well-rounded swimmer," Garner said. "Their freestyle is very strong. Both are not really breaststrokers, but they’re still competitive."

Garner has been coaching both swimmers since January 2003. They practice 90 minutes daily, four or five evenings per week at Gulf Coast Community College.

In Tuscaloosa, swimmers will compete in age groups 10-under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16 and seniors.

Faulhaber also is a veteran of the Southeastern Short Course Swimming Championships, along with teammates Christopher Duncan and Brandon Craine.