Butler swimmer Laura Goettler competes in the 200 individual medley at the WPIAL Swimming Championships in 2019. Goettler, a two-time state champion in the 100 breaststroke, still has her sights set on qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which was postponed until 2021.

Laura Goettler still has the biggest swim of her life to look forward to, but the waiting game has been extended.

The recent Butler High School graduate was scheduled to compete in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., later this month.

That event, however, was postponed in March due to the coronavirus and is now set for June 2021. If Goettler places in the top two there, she will qualify for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo next summer, July 23-Aug. 8.

Goettler was not able to get in a pool for nearly three months because of the shutdown.

“The (Butler) YMCA just reopened and I was in the water there for about 45 minutes on Tuesday,” she said. “I'd love to just get in and go hard right from the start, make up for lost time. But I'm taking it easy to start to avoid injury and will slowly build up my yardage.”

Goettler's senior season included a WPIAL title in the 100-yard breaststroke, giving her a total of five district championships for her career, three coming in the 200-yard individual medley.

The state championship meet, held at Bucknell University, was canceled during the second day of the event March 12. Goettler had placed first in the preliminary breaststroke that morning and is recognized as the state champion. She also won a PIAA title in that event her junior season.

“The hardest thing (about the quarantine) was just being out of the water and not being able to train,” she said. “I did some dry-land workouts at home, did a lot of binge-watching Netflix shows, different stuff with my family. But it was definitely weird being taken out of my routine.”

Like students everywhere, Goettler was forced to complete her studies online.

“At first, I had a routine for everything, when to work out, when to study ... but I couldn't always do things when I wanted and things got flip-flopped a bit.”

Goettler will attend Duquesne University as a health sciences major while competing for the Dukes' swimming program. She qualified for the Olympic Trials at a pro series meet in Richmond, Va., in April 2019.

“I'm still really excited about the trials,” she related. “I'm looking forward to all the training I'll be able to get in between now and then.”