Lara’s Blog

Lara is officially on the 2008/2009 National Team.  What does that mean?  To be eligible for the team, athletes must have one of the top six times in events swum at either the 2008 Olympic Games, 2008 Olympic Trials and/or the 2008 US Open.  Swimmingworldmagazine.com  recently had an article by Kristen Heiss dated October 2, 2008 featuring a look inside being on a national team. 
“A perk that comes to mind when thinking about the National teams are the places the athletes get to travel.  Every summer USA Swimming selects swimmers to represent the U.S. in meets all over the world. 
On the trips, the athletes are well-taken care of.  Coaches are selected from clubs around the United States to coach these teams.  Working with different coaches also gives the athletes the opportunity to learn how to adjust to different coaching styles and benefit from the advice other coaches have to offer.
Part of traveling with a U.S. team means being outfitted with the official team uniforms.  USA Swimming does an admirable job of supplying the National teams with suits, customized caps, parkas, bags, suitcases, shoes, water bottles, rain jackets, sweatshirts, and the list goes on.
Working to make a National Team is a great motivator for swimmers.  Being able to meet new swimmers, travel and represent the U.S. is an honor for the athletes.  And it’s alot of fun!”
USA Swimming also has training grants available for National team members.  The professional swimmers who have sponsorships definitely have an advantage over the NCAA swimmers who rely on limited athletic scholarships.  These grants are available for the swimmers who need to maintain their eligibility, with limited financial resources.  (That would include Lara for sure).  So good for Lara.  She has reached the elite level of her sport.  Who would have thought this possible just 3 short years ago when she was a freshman on the Arizona Swim Team.  Yep, good for you, Lara!

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Well, summer is gone and school is back into full swing.  Lara is still a little sad about how things turned out for her with the Olympic Trials and the way the team for Beijing was selected.  But time is healing her wounds and right now she is fired up for her senior year at Arizona.  “Fired up”, those were her exact words.  And I am glad for her.  Lara has such a big year ahead of her.  Lara is excited about being co-captain along with her teammate, Taylor.  She’s excited about her senior level classes in equine industry/animal science.  Yes, Lara is an Aggie!  And she gets to be inducted into the University of Arizona Hall of Fame, as a team member of the Arizona Women’s Swimming and Diving Team that won NCAA’s in March 2008!  Keith and I will be traveling to Tucson for the Induction on Friday, October 24, 2008 at the Hall of Fame on campus.  There’ll be some festivities and get-to-gethers with the other families.  Then Keith and I will return the following week to watch their first dual meet of the season against Wisconsin, on Friday, October 31, 2008. 
Keith and I will get to as many of the meets that we can to watch and support Lara during her final senior year of eligibility.  There’s the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas at UT, December 4-6, 2008.  PAC 10 Championships will be in Federal Way, Washington February 25-28, 2009.  Then we look forward to NCAA’s in College Station, right here in Texas, March 19-21, 2009.  For the complete schedule, look up on Arizona’s website under athletics. 
Now Lara will not be graduating yet in 2009.  As alot of the student athletes, she will need an extra year to get all of her credits for graduation.  But she wants to continue to train in Tucson with Ford Aquatics and compete as a “pro”.  Next summer, Nationals will be in the beginning of July in Indianapolis.  The World team will be selected from Nationals, for World Championships in Rome, Italy, end of July  So that’s the big goal!  Keep on training and continue preparing so that in four years Lara will be a contender in several events for the Olympics in 2012 in London.
I will keep you posted as her senior year progresses.  Drop me comments when you can.  Let me know that you are still supporting our girl!   And go Cats!

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The 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies start tomorrow on 8/8/08 at 8:08 PM.  It will be bittersweet watching as the events progress.  Keith and I plan to be watching as much as our work schedule allows.  We’ll see how our USA Teams do.  And of course we’ll be cheering for Team USA and Lara’s good friends competing for other countries, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, Great Britain, and Canada.
It’s still sad for us that there is a shadow over USA Swimming.  There are three female competitors missing and it’s not really okay.  How can you compete against the world without your best? 
Searching the internet you can read about the controversy on several web sites, plus print media.  Check out Tara Kirk’s Blog on wcsnblogs.com.  She skillfully documents her journey through Olympic Trials, her disappointment with missing out on the Olympic Team and then the saga that has surrounded this whole Jessica Hardy ordeal and it’s impact on Tara Kirk.  There is some good reading and some great comments.
I wonder how Lara will react when she actually watches the 50 meter freestyle event at the Olympics.  Will she be sad or angry?  Or can she rise above all the emotions and know that she is an amazing competitor and eventually her shining  moment will come.  Not at these Olympics, but at all sorts of various events in the future.  And I know she’ll be great!

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Unfortunately the blog has been off-line for a couple of days due to technical problems!  Sory for the delay.

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Hi Everyone – welcome to my blog page.  Please feel free to leave comments as you please!!!!!

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