Lara's Blog

The year 2012 has finally arrived. Ever since Lara almost made the 2008 US Olympic Team, she’s been looking forward to the 2012 Olympic Trials, once again in Omaha, Nebraska. This time she has experience under her belt and knows better how to prepare for the Trials. Looking back at 2008, it was truly incredible that she actually was a contender to make the team. Lara had done well at 2007 US Nationals, earning a spot on the team to travel to the Japan Invitational. But 2008 was really her first serious national meet where she realized, “Wow, I’m an elite swimmer!”  To swim next to Dara Torres and set a new American Record in prelims of the 50 M free was such a shock! But the lack of experience made that her best swim of the Trials and she was unable to keep up the momentum to make the team, but she DID come in third! And she could have been added to the team after Jessica Hardy failed her drug tests, but due to technical reasons, that did not happen. So Lara did well. Now it’s four years later and we are all so excited to see what will happen this year.
Lara is in a great place with her swimming. She’s a lean, mean machine. She’s more confident having won the JAX 50 in April, Nationals in August and Pan Am Games in October in the 50 M free. FINIS signed up to sponsor her and that has been a huge blessing in so many ways. So what’s up in the mean time? Basically for now it’s training, training and more training. Remember, in swimming Lara needs to build up strong, so she can taper well for when it counts. Lara is considering competing at the Indianapolis Grand Prix meet March 29-31, 2012. But she wants to compete just minimal amount of times this spring. And dare I say that the JAX 50 meet in Jacksonville, Florida may invite her back in April? Since she’s the reigning champ, I should hope so.
So that’s the latest update for Lara Jackson. She is where she wants to be at this point, has a great confident attitude and she is in charge of her life. Lara, this is your year to shine!

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Up until April 2009, I’ve lead a fairly charmed life. I have a career that I absolutely love. I found the love of my life and married him. I have two amazingly smart and talented daughters. I have loving family all around including my parents and sisters in New York and my in-laws in California. And we were all healthy and happy. Then my world was shaken with Keith’s death. My daughters and I have been managing and we found a new normal. Life was good again. Life was good until a routine mammogram showed abnormalities. The surgeon I was referred to recommended a biopsy on my left breast and the results were good. He recommended that I come back 6 months later for a follow up. By October I was concerned about a lump in my right breast. And I went in for another biopsy. This result was not good and I would need surgical intervention along with chemo and radiation treatment since there was definitely some lymph node involvement.
So on Monday, December 12th I was scheduled to have a lumpectomy.  That was okay, I could handle this. However, just prior to surgery, an MRI showed 4 satellites in the right breast and now my surgery was postponed until the 15th for a modified radical mastectomy. With the support of prayer from the 4 corners and throughout the US, I got through the procedure well, and I was thrilled that the worst was behind me. I am on medical leave, but my benefits are great and I continue to receive my salary. Being a longtime employee has definitely paid off. And I am grateful that I have good medical coverage as well.
Here in El Paso, I have a number of supportive friends that are helping me through this ordeal. And I am amazed at just how many women go through this diagnosis. The statistics show that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer and that over 80% of those women have NO family history.
So why does a healthy and happy woman like me get breast cancer? No one knows.  But luckily this cancer has tons of research and there is a lot of knowledge out there for treatment. I focus on my blessings of supportive family and friends. I am grateful for my career and the benefits I have with my job. I am thankful that my surgery went well and am on the road to recovery. And I am grateful to God for being with me through the good times and the bad.
I did not choose this, it chose me. But survival does not depend on the situation as much as one’s reaction. I go on living my life with gratitude. And hopefully in one year I will be healthy and back to living my normal, wonderful life.

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Lara’s back to taper mode this Thanksgiving week. AT&T Winter Nationals are set for Atlanta, Georgia for December 1-3, 2011. Usually this is a short course championship meet, but since we’re heading into a summer Olympics year, all big meets until then are long course meters. So Winter Nationals it is! You can grab the link on usaswimming.org to watch results. Lara will swim the 50 free on Thursday, December 1 and the 100 free on Saturday, December 3. U of A’s post grads from Ford Aquatics will be well represented by several of the pro swimmers. While the college team heads to Austin, Texas for the Texas Invitational with all of the coaches that same time, the pros are usually on their own at this big meet in December. But not this year. Lara has arranged for her El Paso coach, Wright Stanton III to travel to Atlanta with them. It’s a great win-win situation. Coach has always wanted the experience of working with elite swimmers. This talented group of elites can benefit from a coach with Wright’s knowledge and experience. And my daughter will have her substitute “Dad” along for support. Go kick some butt in Atlanta Ford! Swim fast, Lara!

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She did it! Lara arrived one week prior with Team USA in Guadalajara, Mexico for the 2011 Pan Am Games. It was a long week of holding her taper, hanging out at the athlete village, watching other swimmers race, eating and resting. Lara was able to call me a few times and we’d chat. Her mood was good, but she was wanting very much to get on with it! Then the day finally arrived on Friday, October 21st. Off to prelims where she won her heat and was seated 2nd for finals behind Brazil’s Graciele Herrmann.  Then finals arrived. I am still at work trying to finish my documentation. Thankfully my friend, Mindy was also finishing up so she hung out and we watched the results page on the website, refreshing every minute or so. Then as I refreshed the last time, my phone goes off with a text message and we see on the computer screen that Lara won the 50m free with a new Pan AmGames record of 25.09! Woo-hoo! She got the gold!
There was no live video feed from her race, but luckily a little after I did find a file video of the race and medal ceremony. How awesome to see her in action. Her coach from El Paso, Wright Stanton emailed me back. He wrote that he watched the race about 20 times, stated that it was not a good race for her and he wants to talk with her. Ha! Typical Wright. Lara won gold, but there’s still work to be done! That’s why he’s the best!
On USA Swimming website, they posted an article titled, “Team USA Wraps Up Pool Competition With Two Golds, Three Meet Records”. It said that the American Women won gold in all but two events over the course of the meet. Isn’t that something! And there was a quote from Lara in the article,
“Lara Jackson (El Paso, Texas) also won gold for the U.S. Friday, taking the women’s 50m freestyle with a meet-record time of 25.09. Teammate Madison Kennedy (Avon, Conn.) finished third in 25.24.
“I don’t like to fixate on my time before I race,” Jackson said. “I just focus on nailing all the details. If I focus on all the details, the times will come. I couldn’t be happier with things coming out the way they did.” We agree. Great job Lara! Love you. See you soon.

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The swimming events start today on October 15th at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. And Lara made her second Team USA roster, last one in 2007 when she competed in Japan. Now it’s not all glam and excitement being in a beautiful resort town. Lara says she basically sees the pool and the athlete village. She could basically be anywhere in the world, but she’s all business, so all she sees is her room and the pool. Also she’s in “taper blues”. She’s not allowed to work hard in practice and she needs to maintain the taper for fast swimming. Plus she’s not at home where she can stay busy visiting her horse or playing with her dog. So it’s tough for Lara and hopefully she won’t go too stir crazy waiting for her 50 free event on Friday, October 21st.
But making this team is huge for Lara’s journey to make the Olympic team next year. She has the opportunity to be back in the international arena and gain the valuable experience there. So how does a girl from a small swim town make it to the international stage? In the US there are thousands of young swimmers competing on club teams with the hope of one day making the Olympics. Lara got into swimming as an afterthought and had no illusions of being a big time swimmer. But she just happened to have incredible talent. A talent too big to ignore. And sometimes under protest, Lara would be thrust upward into the next level. Along with talent, Lara had a firm foundation for the sport with her first coach, Melissa Lomeli. Melissa recognized the potential in Lara and set up the foundation of her skills with excellent fundamentals and solid sportsmanship. As Lara got to the turbulent teenage years, Wright Stanton III became her main coach and coaxed Lara along. He knew when to push Lara and when to let up. With her talent and these two incredible coaches, Lara was able to harness her strong work ethic and competitive spirit to rise up to  NCAA Division I swimming. Receiving a great opportunity as a walk-on, Lara started as the slowest swimmer on the team and ended up as a 13 time All-American and 2 time individual national champion.
Of course it also helps to have two amazing parents! Lara got Keith’s great athletic ability and my long arms and legs. There was nothing Lara couldn’t do athletically if she put her mind to it. And though it was tough at times, we learned to be supportive parents without overly interfering with the process of developing an Olympic hopeful. This recipe worked for Lara and our family. It may not work for others. But I am grateful for all of the experiences we’ve had with Lara’s swimming, and for those experiences to come. Go Team USA! Go Lara!

http://usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1419&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

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I think that Lara and I are still pinching ourselves over the results of her swimming this summer. Lara exited the pool in Irvine, California in August 2010 as a very discouraged competitor. Her performance then was way below expectations and we felt so down. I recently spoke with Lara and mentioned what a difference a year makes and she told me something that makes you think. She said, “Mom, I needed THAT year to have this year.” And what a year this was!
Lara started back to competing in April 2011 at the JAX 50 Meet in Florida. She was blessed to get invited as a pro, arrived, took names and conquered! She won it and got some nice prize money to boot. From that point on she approached each meet with determination and a renewed confidence, improving her times with each race. She gradually built up her skills to win the 50 free at US Nationals. And now she’s looking forward to competing at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico October 15-22. Lara is finally back where she should be since competing at Olympic Trials in 2008.
I definitely see a pattern with Lara’s progress in her swim career. University of Arizona took a chance on her as a walk on in 2005. She was an “unknown” not truly tested in a large arena. Her freshman year was tough, but her coaches and friends helped her to hang in there. She did compete in the “A” relay of the 200 medley relay at NCAA’s and was named an All-American her freshman year. By sophomore year she broke a school record, got second in the 50 free at NCAA’s. She won the 50 free both junior and senior years at NCAA’s and broke the American record in the 50 yd free a few times during senior year. And she claimed the Ruby Award for the Female Athlete of the Year at U of A. Lara had a ton of potential that panned out nicely with her college career.
Then she turned professional in 2009. There were many ups and downs with the learning process of being a pro, while finishing her studies at U of A. And of course losing her biggest fan, her Dad in April 2009 had a huge impact. Lara always worked hard in training, but the spirit needs time to heal from such a great loss. And by 2011, Lara was ready to make things happen.
So she wins the 50 M free at US Nationals 2011 AND lands a sponsorship with FINIS! What an incredible blessing that is! To have a company show such confidence in Lara is HUGE! This economy has not be able to offer much opportunity to pro swimmers, except to a select few, usually Olympians. So once again Lara gets the support she needs as an “untested” athlete. Thank you FINIS.
Can you stand a little more great news? Lara just found out this past week that she has been awarded another training grant from USA Swimming! She has received several grants in the past and these are a huge blessing. But this grant solidifies the confidence that USA Swimming has in Lara’s potential.
Lara, you are awesome. You hung in there when someone else in your shoes would’ve quit. You took charge of your situation and turned everything around. You have shown true grit and the best is yet to come. You deserve all of your successes. And you have made me very proud!

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A dream has come true for Lara! She was offered a sponsorship with FINIS INC and she officially signed up this week! She was offered a nice package and is looking forward towards her first photo shoot with Jason Lezak in September. And what a happy accident of timing that made this all possible.
Lara’s teammate at Tucson Ford Swimming, Annie Chandler had gotten some suits from FINIS to try and the suits did not fit the 6′ tall swimmer. So Annie asked Lara if she wanted to give the suits a try while they were at the LA Meet in July. Lara did try the suit and loved it. FINNIS did contact Lara and sent her  a copy of a contract that was less than stellar. Lara let them know that she wanted to wait until after Nationals to make any commitments. Well, Lara did win the 50 M free at US Nationals. She contacted FINNIS and said that she was not happy with the contract originally offered. FINNIS rep told Lara that Lara was the first athlete to win in their suit and that they were looking at a new contract for her. They came back with a very nice offer and after considering it carefully, Lara signed it. And I hear that I will also be offered FINIS shirts to wear at Olympic Trials next summer. How cool is that I get in on part of the deal. And Lara is happy to have some financial independence. Lara, you have officially arrived as a pro. Way to go!

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It finally happened! Lara won her first US National title in the 50 meter freestyle. She was able to beat out Madison Kennedy, Kara Lynn Joyce and Amanda Weir for the prize. She has been building for this all year. The good news is that she won. Is there bad news? Sort of. With a winning time of 24.98, she barely squeaked out of a top 16 world ranking. This does cost her a stipend from USA Swimming. But she will compete at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October. Keep up with the training Miss Lara, and you’ll be in that top 16 next!

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Lara wanted to stay low key with her competition this summer so we agreed that I would not attend any of her big meets. We also did not want any of our family and friends at her meets so she could totally focus on what needed to be done. Well, so far, so good. Starting with the JAX 50 meet in Florida in April, Lara has hit the pool either meeting or exceeding her goals. She has been building all summer long to  get her confidence back. Mission accomplished! Lara competed in her last meet before Nationals in LA at Janet Evans Invitational on Friday and Saturday.  She did all right in the 100 free starting with a seed time of 57.33. She swam prelims in 57.83 and finals in 57.59. Saturday was the 50 free entered with a seed time of 25.27, prelims was 25.54 and she finished in second place with 25.32. We were texting back and forth to communicate how her swims were going. Lara seemed satisfied with her performance. She has just started her taper for Nationals so she tells me her body is going through the “taper blues”. Whatever that may mean, she’s ready for the big meet in two weeks. So Lara, well done and go enjoy a day at the beach. You’ve earned it!

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Lara can be proud of herself from this Southwest Classic. She accomplished some goals that she had set for herself. On day one she wanted to swim the 100 free in 58 and she did that in prelims, although went a low 59 in finals. She slipped up a little in the 50 free and barely missed out on winning that event. But she learned from it and will be ready for the next time. For the 100 fly she wanted to go a 104, but in prelims got 107 and she was a little disappointed with that. She did make the “D” final so she had the opportunity to try again. This time she did go a 105 and was happy to take off 2 seconds from her morning swim. Lara did all of her events this weekend wearing a practice suit. There were a few that decided to compete in full competition suits, but not Lara. She keeps the fun meets fun and gets down to serious business when it really counts. Of course she does not want to fully peak until Nationals the first week of August, so that’s the game plan.
Now to get ready for Santa Clara, a big USA Swimming Grand Prix Meet next weekend, June 17-19. Usually Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte like to compete at that meet, so it’s a big deal. They usually have live video on the web. Check USA Swimming site for the link. Lara, I am so proud of you! You’ve stayed the course and worked through your disappointments these past two years. But you NEVER gave up! You are an inspiration. I am happy that you are swimming well this season after not competing since Nationals 2010. You are on track for your goals. And your Mom is behind you every step of the way!

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