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Making the cut: Nightingale, Rehring tapped for Olympic swim trials
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
A crack at qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials couldn't have been further from Lovejoy alum Emily Nightingale's mind after her senior season with the Lady Leopards' swim team.
Yet there she was in March, in the midst of a 200-meter backstroke swim like any other when an Olympic Trial bid became a possibility.
"I dropped a bunch of time," Nightingale said, "and that was when [Metroplex Aquatics and Allen head coach Brent Mitchell] came up to me and told me I was 2.1 seconds off the Olympic Trial cut time."
"When I finished my race, I heard my coach yell, 'Yes,'" Nightingale said. "I looked up at the clock and I was 0.6 under the trial cut."
Nightingale, who placed first in her preliminary run, was staring at a 2:17.33. She would go on to place second in the finals, but assured her first swim was no fluke by breaking the trial cut time yet again with a 2:17.92.
"I didn't think it was real," Nightingale said. "I probably quadruple-checked it just to make sure that was the real time. I was so ecstatic; I looked up at my parents, who were in the stands crying.
"I've never felt more excited than I was from looking at that clock."
In that instance, a goal that was formed just three months prior became a reality with Nightingale next slated to compete at the Olympic Trials, which are June 25-July 2 in Omaha, Neb. The 200 back takes place June 30.
All for a swimmer who's yet to begin her freshman year at New Mexico State. And in an event Nightingale had minimal experience in a one year ago.
Swimming the 200 last June for the first time in years, Nightingale's high school career was built around races like the 500 and 200 freestyle, both of which she qualified for state in and in the case of the former, claimed a Class 4A Swimming and Diving State Championship.
"I've always felt like I'm better at long distance events," Nightingale said, "and the only high school event that offers it is 100 back, so my high school coach always put me in the 500 and 200 free, but I love the 200 back more than either of those."
While a state championship has defined Nightingale's high school tenure, it's the 200 back that now appears to be her signature event. And that's been the focus in the days since qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
"We're working on the finer details of my backstroke," Nightingale said. "We're just trying to get everything to be perfect and preparing for the race mentally."
Mitchell has had a hand in those mental preparations, helping put his swimmer's mind at ease before the biggest meet of her career.
"[Mitchell] told me to visualize my race every night before I go to bed," Nightingale said, "just so when I get to the meet and swim, I don't have any surprises and it goes exactly how I want it to go."
With less than a week until the trials begin, Nightingale admits some nerves will creep up when completing her trek to Omaha. For now though, the former Lady Leopard is still feeding off the adrenaline from her qualification.
She won't be alone either, with Allen alum and Texas A&M senior Jaclin Rehring enjoying her first trip to the trials as well. While Nightingale assured her spot in Omaha mere days ago, Rehring has been prepping for almost a year after logging a trial cut at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA National Championships in August from Stanford.
Rehring will be competing in the 200 butterfly after posting a time of 2:16.22, just over two-tenths of a second under the 2:16.49 standard.
While the former Lady Eagle will have a myriad of college-level meets to ease any nerves entering the race, Nightingale enters the trials with a clean slate.
And while she'll be just one of 172 girls vying for 16 finals spots in the 200 back, a well-earned learning experience and a two-second dip in her Mansfield time will be all Nightingale wants.
"I've never been to a meet that big before, so I think it's a good trial run for me to get in there, swim at a high-level meet and take that away," she said. "Hopefully in the next four years, I'll be going back to the Olympic Trials. So I can get the nerves out of the way for this one, experience it and won't be as nervous for any big meets I go to later on in life."
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