According to plan
SLIPPERY ROCK — Commuting from morning swim practices at Seneca Valley Intermediate School to make the start of the school day at Slippery Rock High School wasn't practical for Katie Antal.
The Slippery Rock native instead got workouts from Seneca Valley Swim Club coach Brian Blackwell to do on her own and report back.
Antal, who swam with the SVSC during her junior and senior years, ultimately built the foundation that helped her qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials next June in Omaha, Neb.
At the USA Swimming Speedo Sectional Meet last Friday in Columbus, Ohio, Antal and two of her Ohio State University teammates hit the qualifying standard in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Antal finished the race in 1 minute, 11.39 seconds, ahead of the qualifying standard of 1:11.49.
When Antal couldn't make it to SVSC practice, she put in a lot of time in at the pool in Slippery Rock University's Aebersold Recreation Center.
“I mean honestly, I'm not that good at it,” Antal said about taking notes on her workouts. “I try to monitor myself. If I wasn't hitting my pace or my stroke didn't feel right, I'd talk to coach about it. It all depended what season we were in.”
Blackwell, who also coaches the Seneca Valley High School swim team, admired her focus. When he came up with a plan, Antal, 19, followed it.
“She wanted to learn as much as she could as fast as possible,” Blackwell said. “She trusted me and trusted the process. Whatever it takes, she did. People do better when they focus more on the process than what they can get from it.”
Antal didn't start swimming until she was in eighth grade and wanted to make a push for bigger meets when she met with Blackwell.
She swam for the Rockets for two years before moving to club full-time.
“She started to look at elevating herself from local meets to national and junior national meets,” Blackwell said. “She had a small window to get there and was determined to make it happen.”
That determination helped overcome a little apprehension about being a freshman at Ohio State.
Qualifying for the Olympic trials kept Antal, who didn't get back home until this weekend, busy past when her freshman year ended.
Antal swims for the Ohio State Swim Club at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Hitting the qualifying standard wasn't something she thought about much before her race Friday.
“That race, honestly, I was a lot more nervous in the morning than I was at night,” Antal said. “I didn't get the time I wanted in the prelims. ... I tried to use my teammates as a guide for that event. It's a sprint event, so it came down to going as fast as I can.”
Her teammates set a blazing pace.
Fellow Buckeye Taylor Vargo set a personal best and finished in 1:09.17, while Amy Bopp also qualified in 1:10.78.
While Antal will get a short break, she's sure her coaches at Ohio State are coming up with a training plan to prepare her for next June.
It's one she'll be sure to follow.
“We have a couple meetings during the year and I haven't had that yet,” Antal said. “I would think I'm going to go to national meets and bigger meets to get prepared for the mental aspect of what this meet is going to be. It's going to be a tough year.”
