Red Oak swimmer competes at state meet
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 12:00am
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MARSHALLTOWN — Molly Thomas, a junior swimmer, finished 24th in the 200 individual medley at the state meet Nov. 8.
Thomas, who attends Red Oak High School, is one of four Tigers who swim for Lewis Central.
“After school, I drive right up there and get there about 4, but they start practice at 3,” Thomas said. “So I’m late, but then once they’re done practice I stay and finish what I missed.”
She doesn’t get home from practice in Council Bluffs until about 7:30 p.m.
“All I do (after practice) is I eat supper, do my homework and go to bed,” she said.
The long hours are worth it, according to Thomas.
“I think its fun. A lot of people probably wouldn’t think its fun, but I like it,” she said. “I like to swim and I get along with the girls that are up there.”
Thomas got a later start to her swimming career than most people, but has rapidly progressed.
“The only reason I got started swimming was because my brother has severe asthma,” she said.
“The doctor told my mom that it would be a good idea to help with his lungs and stuff. So I thought that I’d go out for it, since he was going out for it. Then I just stuck with it.”
Thomas started when she was 10 and her brother was 7 years old.
Despite her late start, Thomas came along quickly.
“I think I learned the strokes really fast. I caught on fast. Then I just worked really hard from there,” she said.
Thomas was the only Lewis Central swimmer to qualify for the state tournament. One diver from the school also qualified.
“I improved my times a lot,” she said. “Coming into this year I didn’t think I would make it. I knew I would have to work really hard to make it to state.”
Thomas dropped 13 seconds off her time in the 200 IMee^from the beginning off the season. Her qualifying time was 2:22.10 at districts.
“At practice, we do a lot of stuff with our arms and legs,” she said.
“Then we do abs and weights, so I know I got stronger and plus we worked on a lot of technique and our turns and our starts, cause that matters a lot, too.”
All that work allowed Thomas to meet her goal of qualifying for the state meet.
Thomas said she tries to stay up front during the butterfly portion of the IM, which is the first leg.
Second is the backstroke.
“I’m really bad at backstroke,” she said.
So, she tries really hard not to fall far behind during that leg.
“On the breaststroke, I can catch back up, ‘cause that’s my best stroke,” Thomas said.
Last is the freestyle. Thomas said she just tries to keep her breaststroke momentum going in the final portion.
The 200 IMee^is one of her favorite races.
“The 200 IM, you switch it up, so its something different, she said. “You don’t just keep doing the same thing over and over.”
Thomas will take a couple weeks off before the winter club season.
Thomas swims year-round.
“I just love it,” she said.