Lara’s Blog

Whew!  The site was down since the you know what hit the fan!  So allow me to update what’s been happening, in case you’ve been stuck under a rock or have been in outer space.  Last Wednesday, July 23rd Lara calls me and says, “Rocket (her Arizona coach) just called me and asked if anyone from USA Swimming has called me”.  Apparently some woman on the Olympic Swim Team had tested positive for a banned substance and he thought that it might be Jessica Hardy.  Quickly doing the math, I asked if she might get called up to the training camp.  I knew that the team would be leaving for Singapore soon to prepare for the Olympics.  She said she hoped not.  She was not ready and she was sore from converting to a heavy workout schedule, not a pre-championship workout type schedule that she was on prior to the Trials.  But she would do whatever her coaches wanted her to do.  Lara called Keith back later with the news that it definitely was Jessica Hardy with the positive drug tests and that the roster for the team would not allow for any additions at this time.  The deadline was July 21st.
Later the El Paso Times called for clarification on this breaking story and I thought to myself, this is a BIG deal!  Then the rest is history.  Tara Kirk, the swimmer who finished third in the 100 breaststroke started to make very big waves (pun intentional) about not being named to the team by the deadline.  Apparently the coaches had the information in time and could’ve added Tara and Lara to the team and gotten them to training camp.  Why they did not add the girls to the team, there is alot of speculation and quite a few theories, which I won’t go into.  In a nutshell, USA Swimming has failed to place the best swimmers on the Olympic Team.  And one of the swimmers not going to Beijing, that deserves to be on that roster is Lara Jackson!
Lara is fine and is ready to move on.  She’s looking forward to her senior year at University of Arizona and hopefully World Championships in 2009.  I am blown away by the amount of attention this situation and our Lara is getting.  One thing for sure, alot of people know her name.  I just read an update on the situation on Swimming World Magazine Website.  Here are some quotes:
(Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News) “I hope I’m not mistaken on that last fact, but there was a window of opportunity, albeit not for reasons they had envisioned, and proverbally speaking, they slammed that window on their fingers and left Tara Kirk and Lara Jackson on the outside.”
(Chris DeSantis, Floswimming) “I totally agree.  Tara and Lara got completely got completely jobbed, and I might add that finishing third was basically the end of Tara’s career.”
 (Dan Albano, Orange County Register) …”But, I do really see Tara and Lara as big-time victims already.  And those are two big-time talents, too.  Lara was awesome at Trials and Tara gets out-touched at the wall.”
So Lara is getting some notice.  Good for her.  On the big scene, Lara was basically an unknown who happened to come in second to Dara Torres at US Nationals in 2007. 
So what do you all think out there?  Personally, the fact that I am talking about my daughter almost making the 2008 Olympic Team, not once, but twice, is very surreal for me.  How do I have a daughter who is a contender for the Olympics!?!  I just remember my little girl wanting to join the summer league swim team and she’s had us on quite a journey ever since.  All I can say is, “Thank you God!”  God has guided us this far and he seems to have some more wonderful things in store for Lara before she hangs up her swim goggles.  We’ll enjoy the journey and trust in his wisdom.  To whom much is given, much is expected.  And Lara has demonstrated grace, style, and maturity to handle this ride.  Hopefully her parents can keep up.

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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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There is a new “Media” button on the site. This is a collection of news articles and videos relating to our favorite swimmer!

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We’ve been back home in El Paso since Tuesday and went right back to work on Wednesday.  We are still enjoying all the excitement of the Olympic Trials.  So many people at work have commented to me how excited they were for Lara and if only she had beat Jessica Hardy how great it would have been if she made the Olympic Team.  Oh well, such is life.  As Keith so wisely put it before the 50 free final, if she does not make it, she was not ready yet.  Just review how much Lara accomplished last week!  Lara took it one race at a time.  Do well in pre-lims and make it to semi-finals.  Then do well in semi-finals and make it to finals.  Mission accomplished!  At her very first Olympic Trials, Lara made it to finals and got to swim in front of the most spectators ever on US soil at a swimming event.  Pretty cool!  I think Dara Torres’s notoriety helped a little with that.  They even moved up the semi-finals a little early in the schedule to show that on network TV on Saturday evening.  Now, allow me to tell you what every swimmer wants at any big meet.  To win?  No, to have a successful swim, to swim a personal best.  Keith and I are always acknowledging to Lara when she swims a personal best and how thrilled we are for her.  Lara wanted to swim her 50 meter free in a 24 something.  Well she did it.  Not only once, or only twice, but each time she competed in the water!  Now it would have been nice to have the 24.50 at finals instead of pre-lims, but oh well.  We know she has it in her.  And we believe she can go even faster.  If you look at the final results from the last Olympic Trials, the top time was a low 25!  No 24 at all in 2004!  So way to go Lara!  You are up there with the big names and the best.  And Lara has a world ranking of 7 when you pull up the time standards page on the usaswimming.org site under the heading of swimmers.  Seventh in the world!  And she did not even make the team.  That’s what happens when 2 other USA swimmers are ahead of you in the rankings.
Now I thought we would just settle down for a quiet summer.  Lara’s back in Tucson and back at practice.  She’ll stat weightlifting again and running, to stay in shape for the next NCAA season at Arizona.  But the Sports Editor at the El Paso Times has been calling us so he can run an article about Lara in Saturday’s El Paso Times.  I asked him, with this news now being about one week old, why is he writing another article?  He said that he wants to write about our feelings and comments about the experience at Trials.  He spoke with me for a while on the phone and with Keith after for about 30 minutes.  He said he had a good talk with Lara earlier this week.  And he wanted Lara’s former club coach, Wright’s phone number as well.  So, wow!  The interest in all this is still there.  I am happy about this.  Keith and I used to get discouraged when any of the kids from El Paso would compete at out of town meets such as Texas Age Group Swimming Championships (TAGS) and we would call the newspaper begging them to write about the kids’ accomplishments.  Very little interest.  But this has been big with Lara and has sparked alot of interest in the sport.  Yes, a swimmer can actually come up in the sport from the desert!  If a swimmer has the desire, some talent, good coaching and parents who can guide the child along the way, it can happen.  It happened with Lara.

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It’s early morning and we are at a rest stop somewhere past Santa Fe on the way to El Paso.  Keith and I are now in a motor home (long story) heading back to El Paso.  After the last session of the Trials, we got together for dinner with friends from El Paso, with Lara and two of her teammates.  Afterward, Keith and I hit the road and got about two hours out of Omaha to a rest stop.  We have been driving all day through the entire state of Nebraska and through Colorado via Denver down to northern NM.  I got tired and went to sleep but I know that we got to Santa Fe.  I don’t know how much further he drove before ending up at this rest stop.  I believe we are between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  The driver’s still asleep, so that’s why I don’t know exactly.  But the generator is on and I can plug in this lap top and feed my addiction to blogging.
OMG.  The attention from El Paso media that Lara’s been getting is unbelievable!  We have gotten phone calls from two sports reporters from the El Paso Times and two TV stations!  The media that contacts Keith or me first does better.  I feel badly for KVIA because they were calling Lara too soon after the race and we were on our way to dinner.  No one messes with Lara when she has not eaten yet!  She put them off and understandably so.  The NBC affiliate, KTSM got with either Keith or me and we could answer alot of the questions that they had.  Same with the Times.  Lara was the lead newsstory in El Paso on Saturday night and I believe on Sunday as well.  They have been showing footage from an interview they did with Lara in Tucson from a couple of weeks ago.  Both the TV and newspaper got with Lara’s former club coach, Wright Stanton III and his daughter Elora for an interview.  You can pull up the articles on elpasotimes.com.  Also get the video links from KVIA El Paso and KTSM El Paso of their footage.
Sunday night, Wright and alot of the Ft Bliss Barracudas met at a Fuddrucker’s and watched Lara’s race on a big screen TV.  Both the Times and TV stations were there!  I am so happy to have Wright get the recognition he deserves.  He is an excellent coach and taught Lara so well.  Lara has excellent form with all of her strokes and he was able to get her through the difficult teenage years.  Wright always knew when to push Lara and when to back off.  It’s a challenge to keep swimmers going through the year round sport.  There were times when Lara would feel burned out, almost ready to quit!  She used to tell me if she could give away her athletic talent, she would gladly do so.  So many of her team mates would love to have even one ounce of that talent.  One time Keith told her, just quit if she can’t do it any more.  I think when she realized that she did have a choice to continue or not, she realized how much she would miss the sport and all the fun times she’s had with good friends.
I am sorry that her first coach from summer league and the beginning of the year round team, Melissa Lomeli was not in town to be interviewed.  She saw this 10 year old tagging along to swim practice and asked Lara, “Why aren’t you swimming?”  Lara said, “I don’t know”.  Later that day when Keith brought the kids home Lara announced to me that she was joining the swim team!  And I thought how nice.  The little Marty Robbins pool was outdoors, had no lane lines and a bunch of new swimmers.  I remember going in to pick Lara up from practice, she would be attempting the butterfly, looking more like she was drowning instead of actually swimming the butterfly.  Then she started winning races.  She was very good at the 25 and 50 yard free and breaststroke.  Lara made it to the summer league state meet in Lubbock Texas.  She was in some lower heat and actually won a medal for the breaststroke, I believe third or fourth place.  Can’t remember exact details from 11 years ago.  Then again, I did not know that it was the start of Lara’s swim career and there was no blogging in those days!
Melissa did start a year round team after that called “The Catch”.  Lara showed some promise and really enjoyed competing.  The following year, at age 11, Border Swimming asked Lara to participate with the El Paso team in the Southern Zones meet in College Station, Texas.  Keith went along and he told me that Lara looked at all the more experienced swimmers going up to the awards stands to get their medals and she wanted to be like them someday.  We also had some fun at Texas Age Group swimming championship meets.  When Lara was 12, she made it to finals in the 50 back and placed fourth.  She also did well in the 50 free.  Texas age group swimming is quite competitive.  Lara won her first event, the 50 free with a new TAGS record of 23.90 when she was 14.  That record stood for about 5 years.
Lara did have a good high school career as well, being named the Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet at the 4A State meet in 2005.  The same year Dana Vollmer was the 5A State swimmer of the year.  Dana is an Olympic gold medalist in the 200 X 4 freestyle relay from 2004.  She is going into her senior year at Cal and competes against Lara at PAC 10 meets.  We feel badly that she has not had a good year with her swimming.  She did not win any events at NCAA Champs this year, nor did she qualify for the 2008 Olympic Team.  She’s an amazing swimmer, mainly butterfly, and we hope to see her come back strong next year.
So what’s next for Lara?  Lara and her coach have decided to lay low for the rest of the long course season and not compete at any other meets.  She will contiue to practice and get ready for Arizona’s college short course season.  Lara and Taylor Baughman are the captains for the 2008/2009 year.  And there’s so many improvements to make.  Lara wants to be more competitive in the 100 free and the 100 fly.  Lara continues to work very hard and gets faster every year.  She is still at the beginning of all this and has the potential to get even better.  Coming in third with the 50 free at Trials has left her wanting more.  She was very, very close.  And we are hoping for all the best at the 2012 Trials and hopefully the 2012 Olympic Team.

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Just wanted you all to know there is another fan club up here in Connecticut! Christine has been keeping me updated and I have been telling everyone we know about Lara! My daughter Quinn swims so at her meet on Sat. I was telling everyone to watch out for Lara Jackson! We’ll be watching……….

Kristin Murray Millard

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I am back writing this while cruising on the freeway in a motorhome.  It’s a little bumpy but we’ll see how it goes.
Wow.  Wow.  Wow!  What an emotional rollercoaster of emotion this whole week.  Watching swimmers get added to the Olympic Team and waiting for the very last Women’s event of the Trials.  Lara was very restless when she finally got to the 50 free prelims.  She was so ready that she broke the American record with a 24.50.  Only a handful of women have swum the 50 free in 24 something.  The world record is a 23.98 by Australia’s  Libby Lenton.  So that was quite an accomplishment.  Then heading into semi’s in top seed was great.  After the semi’s she was fourth seed for finals.  It was a long day Sunday waiting around for the finals to begin at 7:00 PM CT.  Finals finally began a little after 7:00.  I was in section 108 at the start end of the pool for the 50.  Saw her come out with the rest of the heat, she was in lane 6.  She looked good, had a good reaction time off the block.  Then all I could see from my end was alot of splash from the kicking of all of the swimmers.  Dara Torres touched first with 24.25 with a new American Record.  Jessica Hardy 24.82 and Lara 24.88.  So Lara missed going to China in six one hundredth of a second.  Kara Lynn Joyce came in fourth.
I have alllowed myself to be a little disappointed, for one minute.  The build up all week has been intense, so I think it’s normal.  Then I stop and realize all the amazing things Lara has accomplished.  She improved her world ranking to # 8, I believe, which puts her in a very good position.  There are several international meets that USA Swimming participates in, so Lara will be a top choice for that.   She can go into her senior year in very good shape and with confidence that she can rise to be a top scorer for the team.  There’s an American record in the 50 yard free that she can go after.  This was her very first Olympic Trials.  Better known swimmers did not make the Olympic Team this year with even worse heartache.  Lara has only just begun!  And preparation for Olympic Trials 2012 starts now.  We are all very excited!
Thanks for all the wonderful comments.  Keep reading and keep writing comments.  I’ll get back when I am not bouncing around in the back of an RV!  Love to all!

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No matter what happens tonight, you can keep track of Lara’s progress on this site. This is a work in progress and there will be much more up over the next few weeks, especially pics and videos. So keep spreading the word about the site!!!

And feel free to make suggestions for the site under the “site suggestion” category!!!!

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We have finally come to the last day of the Trials. And what an amazing time we’ve had!  This has been such a fabulous event here in Omaha, Nebraska.  The city of Omaha should be so proud.  The venue is incredible.  The main arena where they built the pool has had all the finest details planned.  There really is not a bad seat in the house.  I have sat all over the stadium and have enjoyed all of the different views.  And they have this giant board in the middle that shows replays, videos and results in a very readable display.  There’s theatrical lighting and pyrotechnics.  The medal ceremonies have all the glamour and excitement you can imagine.  This certainly is the big leagues.  And rumor has it that Omaha will be considered for the 2012 Olympic Trials.
In the main exhibit hall there is the Aqua Zone.  There are all sorts of exhibits and interactive things to do for kids of all ages.  There’s a main staging area in the center where alot of the swim legends have been making appearances and signing autographs.  There’s an exhibit of how they put up the temporary pools and you can touch the material that they used.  And the kids have been going wild over the free give aways especially the swimmers trading cards.  What a great promotion for the sport of swimming!  The kids visiting the venue are loving every opportunity to see it all.  Lara actually got mobbed by a group of kids wanting her autograph on the way back to the hotel last night.  I can just imagine what Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff go through.
We have definitely been bombarded with our own media attention.  Yesterday Channel 9 News (NBC El Paso affiliate)  called me to set up a phone interview for the lead story about Lara’s success so far here in Omaha.  They also contacted me for any friends or family that they could interview back in El Paso.  I was happy to have Lara’s club coach in El Paso, Wright Stanton, be available to do an interview along with his daughter Elora.  They wore their Arizona t-shirts with the tattoos she has on her back printed on them.  I tried to keep this quiet from Lara so she does not get distracted by this extra attention.  She told me she has all sorts of text messages on her phone that she needs to wait until after the Trials are over, in which to respond.  She still has work to do and that’s the focus for today.  She’ll do a nice workout this morning and we’ll feed and water her.  We’ll make sure she gets the rest that she needs so she can be at her very best tonight. 
The chances are probably 50/50 that she makes the team.  The top competitors are very strong.  Both Dara Torres and Kara Lynn Joyce are about 6′ tall.  The height advantage is big in the 50 free where you can be so easily outtouched in a difference of one 100th of a second.  Jessica Hardy has been swimming very well and she’s already on the team with the 100 breaststroke.  Those three are the tough ones to get by.  But Lara is very confident that she is capable.  That’s what she needs.  To have the right racing suit, the confidence and have fun with the competition this evening. 
Speaking of racing suits, the main companies, Speedo, TYR and Blue 70 have been making their suits available to all of the swimmers so everybody has access to the new technology.   Lara was wearing the Blue 70 when she set the American Record yesterday morning.  She wore the TYR last night in semi’s.  Tonight she’ll be back with the Blue 70.  She likes that suit and she feels very fast in it.  I am sure that company will be thrilled if Lara does well in that suit.  Because most of the swimmers have been stepping up to the block in the Speedo LZR.  It is an interestingly designed suit, no doubt about it.  But the swimmer has to use what works for them.
I guess that’s about it for now.  Looking forward to finals to see how it all goes.  Thanks for writing in comments to the blog.  I’ve enjoyed reading all of them.   Please keep posting comments as the spirit moves you.  Any comment, small or large is appreciated and I am so glad that you are all out there supporting Lara.

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How does a Mom get through the finals on Saturday, when she anticipates the last event of the night, wondering if the swimmer can come back after an amazing prelims, fast enough to make it to finals?  Well it was not easy.  But we got through it. 
The first event of the night was the Women’s Backstroke final.  We were rooting for Hayley McGregory of Longhorn Aquatics.  Earlier this week Hayley set a new world record in the next to last heat of the 100 backstroke prelims.  Natalie Coughlin took back the world record in the next heat.  Then at the 100 backstroke finals, Hayley failed to finish in the top two and did not make the team.  So we were hoping that she would make the time with the 200 back.  Well it did not happen, Hoelzer won with a time of 2:06.09 and Beisal 2:06.92.  So even the most promising swimmers do not necessarily make the team.  I remember this to keep me grounded.  Only .02 % of USA swimmers make it onto the Olympic Team.  I told Lara at dinner that she was awesome, in a very good position and that we could die happy today with all that she has accomplished.  Her goals were to swim a mid 24 second time and to make it to finals.  And she did it today.
The next event was the 100 fly with Phelps the winner with a 50.89 and Crocker second (51.62).  Katie Hoff won the 800 free in a 8:20.81 with Ziegler second (8:25.38).  And the Men’s 50 freestyle was taken by Weber-Gale in 21.47 and an American Record with Wildman-Tobriner in second (21.65). 
Then we had the Women’s 50 free semi finals.  In the first heat Jessica Hardy won the heat with a new American record of 24.48.  And Lacey got a 25.06.  Then in the second heat (while I was having my heart attack), Dara Torres turned in a new American record of 24.38 with Joyce second with 24.70 and our Lara with a 24.94.  Lara was so excited when we saw her back at her room.  Lara is back for finals tomorrow night and she’s a little under the radar in lane 6 for the last race.  She’d prefer to have Dara get all the attention and stay out of the spotlight for now.  Tomorrow will be a good day of rest and food then back to finals at 7:00 CT.  We’ll see how it all turns out.  Remember, the 50 free is a crapshoot.  Everything has to be absolutely perfect from the reaction off the block, the dive, the dash and the touch to the wall.  Lara has the talent, she’s done the work, she’s had and has the best coaches.  Now a little luck would not hurt.  And of course everyone’s prayers and good wishes.  Off to my rest so I can survive whatever happens tomorrow.  And no matter what, it’s all good!

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