Athlete of the Month
Caitlin Leverenz Is a Swimming Success
By Colleen Bagnall

As she sits sideways in an overstuffed chair in her family room, Caitlin Leverenz looks like your typical 14-year-old girl, but she sure doesn't sound like one. “When I want something, I set my mind to it and I usually achieve it. I don't like letting myself down. I go for my goals no matter how high they are,” Caitlin says with confidence. Her goals include straight As in school and a spot on the Junior National Team, both of which she has accomplished in the past few months. It's Saturday afternoon and she has just returned from swim practice and Latin class. Yes, Latin class. She admits it's her favorite subject. “I also enjoy English. We've been reading Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey . I love the Renaissance period and mythology.” Caitlin is also a member of her school speech and debate team. But swimming doesn't allow her to do much else.

Her swimming career began at the age of 7. Caitlin's mother Jeannine enrolled Caitlin and her older brother, Derek, in a summer swim program at Eastern Hills Pool. Caitlin received a plaque that year for Rookie of the Year. “At that point I was like ‘I want to swim,' and I begged my mom to let me swim year-round,” she said. Jeannine says another parent told her, “Oh yeah, she'll want to do year-round swimming but when the winter rolls around you'll see that look in her eyes and you'll be able to tell that she's done.” But Caitlin never did have that look in her eyes. It was quite the opposite. She never minded diving into the pool when the temperature outside was hovering below 40 degrees. “Sometimes I say ‘I can't do this,' and then I think I don't know what I'd do with my life if I didn't have swimming.” She practices two to four hours per day as a member of the El Dorado Aquatics Club and competes on the weekends. While most girls her age are settling in for a night of television, Caitlin is in bed by 8 p.m. in order to get up at 5 a.m. for swim practice the following day.

Over the years, Caitlin has missed parties, sleepovers, movies, even the winter formal her first year in high school. “I've never had something big enough that I was truly upset that I was swimming instead of whatever I had the choice to do,” admits Caitlin. She wants to buy a T-shirt that says “I can't” on the front and “I have swim practice” on the back.” Caitlin is breaking her strict routine on Sunday February 26 th to attend her first concert, Brooks and Dunn. She'll be celebrating her 15 th birthday that night.

It has been an incredible few months for this tall, muscular swimmer. She earned a spot on the National Junior Team for her qualifying time in the 100-meter breaststroke. In October she traveled to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs , Colorado . She experienced Olympic-level practices with her 34 teammates. In the classroom she learned about race analysis, doping control and what to expect if she makes it as far as the Olympics. Then she and her teammates were off to Australia for 11 days to swim at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Center, the largest swimming complex in the southern hemisphere. Her parents were taken by surprise. “I'm really sending my child halfway across the world to swim?” Jeannine recalls asking herself. For Caitlin, it was the trip of a lifetime. “Walking in was amazing. I couldn't believe I was swimming here. Australians take swimming very seriously,” observed Caitlin. While in Australia , she earned a spot in the Olympic trials in June 2008 for her qualifying times in the 400-meter individual medley, 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter breaststroke. Of the 1,000 to 1,500 swimmers who qualify for those trials, only 52 make it to the Olympics in Beijing . “Everyone I know says it's the most mentally racking meet. It takes the most out of you. If you have a bad day, you're out.”

Little did she know a research project in seventh grade would help her compete at the Olympic level. She researched mental toughness and mental exercises that help elite athletes perform. “I visualize a lot and go through every little detail like reaction off the block and then how many kicks I'm going to do underwater and then how many strokes I'm going to take for the whole length and my turn time. Then I know I've done everything I can to prepare myself for this, I just have to do it.” Her coach, Franz Resseguie, knew from the moment he saw her dive into the pool at the age of 8 that she was born a winner. “I have seen a lot of talented athletes in my years of coaching. What set her apart from the others is her drive. It has been most enjoyable just to watch her grow into the wonderful person she is now,” he said.

Caitlin's success at swimming has taken the family by surprise. “I remember her first swim meet in Phoenix when she was 8 and thinking what a big deal this was. Little did I know that was the beginning of going to Phoenix every month and eventually to Australia ! I had no idea at that time,” said Jeannine. “I still get overwhelmed every day she goes to the next step. When Franz told me she had made the Junior National Team I still didn't really believe it until we started receiving the paperwork on it,” says Jeannine. And if her coach is correct and her winning streak continues, that paperwork will keep coming in the form of college scholarships and Olympic invitations.