Lauren Powell and Sydney Dobson are making waves this season for their Rensselaer Bomber team. Even going against strong teams like West Lafayette, the two girls have proven they can hold their own. Lauren Powell took first in both the 200 and 500 free earlier this week at the Hoosier Conference meet. Dobson got 2nd in the 50 free and 100 back. "Swimming at the CPSC with Sydney Dobson and Lauren Hunter was a huge experience that I will never be able to forget. I started swimming at age 4 competitively. Lauren, Sydney and I swam on the same summer team for about 10 years. I know I learned things that I didn't even know how to do and it helped correct my techniques and I got to do it with friends new and old. Without all of that coaching I would not have been able to move on to sectional finals. When I was swimming for Crown Point Swim Club, being with all of those same girls was pushing me to swim harder than I ever had. It has helped me a whole lot to go through some training there, mainly because you need to learn to push yourself. I would not be the swimmer I am today if I had not have chosen to go there." said Powell. Pushing yourself is something every swimmer needs to learn at some point or another and because of a shoulder injury early on, Powell has had to push herself harder than she ever has. "As a younger swimmer, I dedicated myself to my backstroke and freestyle. I was able to go to state with those events along with my butterfly. Once I went to state in 2009 for my butterfly I ended up hurting my shoulder pretty bad and have rotator cuff issues. So I did have to stop my butterfly for a little bit, but this year I kind of picked it back up." What's really impressive about Powell is her height. She stands at five foot one. That is an unusual height for a swimmer but Powell does not let it stop her. Powell was a A finalist in the 500 free in one of the hardest Sectionals in the State at last years IHSAA Crown Point Sectional. She was the only Bomber in the filed and the only freshman. "I just keep my mind focusing on my swims and not the other swimmers. My coach Greg Michaels always tells me that it's my swim not theirs. That helps me to make sure I have my mind straight so I can swim my best." Knowing your old friends and teammates that are State level swimmers swimming just lanes down from you can sometimes give any athlete chills, but Powell seems to handles the nerves well. "Going against my friends that I use to be teammates with has made me want to do better. It makes me strive to try and keep up with them so I push my hardest." Powell is just now reaching her best times that she set back when she swam for Crown Point. Everyone thought she would peak early but she proved all her doubters wrong when she swam a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle at the Hoosier Conference meet. The 500 free will be a tougher event this year with the likes of Allison Cunningham and Hannah Kukurugya who have both already went under 5 minutes. "Right now, for my 200 my best time is a 2:09.12 and my 500 best time is a 5:42. Snow days and illness have made these a challenge. My goals for the rest of the season are to just go for sectional finals in both of my events and see where I can go from there. This year around I'm trying to be able to move up my place on sectional finals. Even if it's just by a little bit, it will still lead up to bettering myself step by step." Lauren has plans of breaking the school record in the 200 and 500 free next year while fellow teammate Dobson has already broken the school record in the 100 backstroke her freshman year and then again her Sophomore year. Sectionals is on the horizon and will be here in a blink of an eye but Lauren Powell and Sydney Dobson will use their experience that they've learned and will lead the Bombers against some of the State's fastest swimmers. |
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February 2015
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