LAKE STEVENS – Kelly Conrad’s path to swimming success was bumpy, to say the least.
Before making her mark as the best female freestyle swimmer in Lake Stevens High School history, Conrad struggled in all sorts of sports.
“I tried playing basketball. I wasn’t very good at that,” said Conrad, now a Lake Stevens senior.
“Softball: No.”
“Running: I tried that for a year. Nah, that didn’t work. I didn’t like it.”
So when Conrad began swimming in the summer of 2001, before she started seventh grade, she had low expectations. If she liked it, great. Would she excel? Probably not.
But a little more than five years later, it’s safe to say Conrad found her calling. No one is more surprised than her. “I never thought I’d be swimming,” she said after practice Wednesday. “Like, who swims?”
Plenty of people swim, but few are as good as Conrad.
The senior holds Vikings school records in five individual events (50-yard freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley, an event that requires four different strokes) and has contributed to two record-setting relays (200 medley and 200 freestyle). She aims to qualify for the Class 4A state championships for the fourth consecutive year in November and has high hopes after placing in both freestyle sprints last year (second in the 50 and eighth in the 100).
The versatile Conrad has already swum state-meet qualifying times in six of the eight individual events this fall. She hasn’t decided which ones she’ll pursue at state.
Conrad is a great all-around swimmer, Lake Stevens coach Sarah Summers said, but her strength is sprinting. “She’s just got beautiful strokes, beautiful technique, and it really pays off for her in all the different events,” Summers said.
A powerful mix of natural ability and determination have made Conrad a stellar performer. “There’s a lot of kids with talent that don’t (work hard) and never rise to their potential,” Summers said. “(Conrad has) done a great job of combining both of them.”
Brittany Wolcott, one of Conrad’s teammates and also a freestyle standout, said Conrad’s slim frame helps a lot: “She’s hardly pushing any weight through the water, so that’s a huge benefit.”
Kamiak coach Chris Erickson has gone against Conrad in non-conference and postseason meets. He also coaches her on the Lake Stevens-based Storm Aquatics club team. Besides being versatile, Conrad “really trains very well. She can do endurance stuff and she can hold a great pace,” Erickson said.
At state, Conrad said she wants to get a top-three finish, maybe even a state championship. If she competes in the 50 freestyle she’ll probably have to contend with last year’s state champ, Madison Rousell. The South Kitsap senior finished more than half a second ahead of Conrad (24.01 seconds to 24.58).
“It’s one of those races where there’s no second chances. It’s all out,” Summers said. “Everything has to fall in place at the right time, and you hope that it does at the state meet.”
One mistake can spoil it all.
“Don’t do anything wrong,” Conrad said of what it takes to succeed in sprints. “It’s so short, you can’t make (any time) up.”
Swimming is generally considered an individual sport, but Summers said Conrad avidly supports teammates during meets. In turn, their competitiveness has made Conrad better and helped Lake Stevens become one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Some of the Vikings’ top contributors are Wolcott, junior Mekenzie Sutton, sophomore Cassie White and sophomore Sam Purnell.
“We have this core group of athletes that all train together and … are extremely motivated and they push each other,” Summers said. “It’s made a big difference in elevating all of them to a much higher level than they otherwise (would have reached).”
Conrad plans to keep striving for swimming success after high school. In fact, due to financial limitations, the sport is probably the only way she’ll be able to attend college, she said.
Conrad is considering a scholarship offer from New Mexico State. She soon hopes to take a recruiting trip to the school’s campus in Las Cruces, N.M. She’s hopeful, but the region’s mainly hot, dry conditions concern her.
“If I can’t breathe down there because it’s so dry, I don’t know if that will work,” Conrad said.
But who knows? Conrad never thought becoming a swimmer would work either.
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