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Looking to make a splash: McLaine, Hairston set for Olympic swim trials
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
When the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials commence Monday in Omaha, Neb., Plano West alum Maureen McLaine will be competing in three different events.
Not bad considering the Texas A&M senior's best event isn't even an option to swim.
The event in question is the mile, which is not an Olympic event for women. McLaine won the Big 12 Championship in the 1,650-meter as a sophomore and then shaved 10 seconds off that time as a junior en route to winning the event once more and crushing the Big 12 Meet record.
The "shorter events" in question are the 200, 400 and 800 free. McLaine, who finished second at state in the 500-yard free as a senior at West, qualified for each of those events and almost did same in the 100 free.
"I was so close," McLaine said with a laugh.
McLaine didn't make the cut in the 100, but has long known she would be going to the Olympic trials. After missing the cut by 0.2 seconds four years ago when she was with the Lady Wolves, McLaine started compiling qualifying times for 2012 two years ago, which is the earliest one can qualify.
The time since then has been filled with rigorous workouts.
"It's pretty much been a string of four-hour swimming days coupled with dry land workouts and weights," said McLaine, who has been training in College Station with her teammates. "But with the event getting closer, we've started to taper and gotten to rest a little."
The more relaxed schedule allowed McLaine to visit Plano over the weekend.
"I wanted to come up and see my dad for Father's Day," she said, "but it was kind of a last minute decision because we are so close to the trials and I didn't want my legs to get tired from the drive. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it really does happen."
McLaine avoided leg fatigue, but continued to court minor levels of danger.
"I was climbing up a tree in our backyard to hang a birdhouse," she said. "I was sitting there for a minute and said, 'what if I fell.' My mom was like, 'oh, please don't say that.'"
McLaine's mother, Judy, had reason to be nervous as her daughter had been in a hit-and-run earlier in the week.
"I was going with one of my teammates to HEB; we got hit and the other car just drove off," McLaine said. "I was nervous at first because that car had a big dent in it. But my car (a Mustang) obviously has a tough exterior because all it got was a little paint chip."
McLaine's week improved as she capped her trip to Plano with a celebration that included her family and neighbors, complete with a good luck sign anchored in the yard.
"Maureen is a terrific young lady who is very sweet and thoughtful," said Louie Beltran, next-door neighbor of the McLaines for 20 years. "We are certainly proud of her and know she will do great at the [Olympic trials]."
That was the overriding sentiment of the day.
"We are so proud of our daughter," Mrs. McLaine said. "This is an amazing achievement and one she has worked so hard and so long for, so obviously we are very happy."
McLaine will leave for Omaha Sunday morning. The Olympic Team Trials are June 25-July 2 at the CenturyLink Center and McLaine's trio of events have her competing at a variety of times. The 400 (which McLaine qualified for with a time of 4:15.39) is set for June 26, the 200 (2:02.81) begins June 27 with the finals the next day and the 800 (8:42.95) starts June 30 with the finals commencing July 1.
"The 400 will be a good intro to the meet for me," McLaine said. "Since I am more of a distance swimmer, my main focus will be the 800."
Only the top two from each event qualify for the 2012 London Games and McLaine's most prominent goal is making the 800 finals.
"I'm keeping a positive attitude right now and I'm excited to see how I deal with the pressure," she said. "Some swim well at this event and some don't, so my motto going in has been expect the unexpected."
McLaine admitted advancing to London may be a stretch, but when she isn't in the pool, the A&M swimmer will feverishly cheer on fellow Aggies with Olympic dreams.
"Obviously I want to be there for them because my coaches and teammates are who have pushed me to do so well," she said. "And I've got a bunch of teammates that I really do think will do well."
That type of attitude is one of the reasons the environmental design major won the Aggie Heart award this past season and has already been named a team captain for A&M in 2012-13. That's a big leap from what McLaine was expecting when she graduated from West.
"Three years ago I never thought I would be where I am today," she said. "I just wanted to be part of the scoring team in college and now I'm hoping to make the finals at the U.S. trials."
Another Wolf in Omaha
McLaine won't be the only local alum competing at the Olympic trials as fellow West graduate and A&M senior Meagan Hairston is in the 100 backstroke, which begins June 26 and culminates the next day. Hairston registered her qualifying cut little more than a week ago.
"Meagan always works extremely hard and does a good job at helping keep our team on track, McLaine said, "so I think she'll do well."
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