Sykora-Bodie

SLIPPERY ROCK — Caleb Sykora-Bodie is making up for lost time, perhaps setting up his future at the same time.

The Slippery Rock High senior will be competing in the 50-yard freestyle Friday at the PIAA Class AA Swimming Championships. He is the first Rockets swimmer to qualify for the state meet since 2006.

"I didn't even get to districts last year," Sykora-Bodie said. "I broke my arm in a snowboarding accident two weeks before the meet.

"It was a terrible feeling missing out — not just for me, but our 400 free relay team stood a good chance of qualifying for states. With me out of the equation, our relay didn't get there."

If last year's mishap isn't enough motivation for Sykora-Bodie to shine Friday, the location will give him an extra boost.

The state meet is at Bucknell University, where he hopes to attend college and compete for the swim team.

Bucknell's coach will be watching his performance this weekend.

"Grant McKnight coached me with the Slippery Rock Eels and he swam at Bucknell," Sykora-Bodie said. "He's talked to the coach about me and I'm hoping to get a chance there."

Sykora-Bodie finished second at the District 10 meet with a time of 22.08 seconds. He was beaten out by Jared Schwab of Oil City, who swam a career-best 21.97. Schwab has the 10th fastest time among the PIAA Class AA field of 32 swimmers while Sykora-Bodie is 16th.

The fastest qualifying time belongs to Zach Chow of Muhlenberg at 21.23 seconds. Only three other swimmers have times more than a half-second quicker than Sykora-Bodie's.

"It's bunched up after the first couple of guys," Sykora-Bodie said. "In a short race like that, anybody's got a shot if you hit it."

First-year Slippery Rock coach Cindy Johnston said Sykora-Bodie reached the state meet on his work ethic in and out of the pool.

"It was all determination," she said. "He just wanted this. He worked hard in practice and he worked hard on his own.

"Even though we practice every day as a team, that practice time alone isn't enough for a swimmer to reach full potential."

Johnston said swimming is a sport that emphasizes individual work ethic.

"I'm one coach and I have 25 swimmers," she said. "You can only give a kid so much individual attention. You can only gain so much of an edge during practice."

Sykora-Bodie did a lot of running and weightlifting this year, something he hadn't done much of in previous seasons.

"If I hadn't been working outside of the pool, there's no way I'd be where I am right now," he admitted.

Besides the 50 freestyle, Sykora-Bodie swam the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly for the Rockets this season.

"I swam the (50 free) in 34 seconds my freshman year," he recalled. "Shaving 12 seconds off over four years, I'm pretty happy about that. If I improve my starts and turns, I can drop another second or more."

Sykora-Bodie is headed to states for the second time in his senior year. He played left fullback and was a captain of the boys soccer team that reached the PIAA Tournament last fall.

"A lot of guys never get to states and I got there twice my senior year," he said. "It means a lot to me to get there in swimming because I've watched a lot of teammates fall just short over the past few years."