Sports
10
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
In the fast lane:
Richard Li
Staff Reporter
Senior Brendan Burns glances at the clock on the wall as he surfaces from the pool — it reads 6:30 a.m. While many students are just waking up for school, Burns has been swimming laps at the Upper Main Line YMCA for an hour. But Burns’ day’s work is barely complete, returning to the YMCA to train three more hours in the afternoon. However, Burns is not your average high school swimmer. He is ranked the number one swimming recruit in the nation for the Class of 2019, says collegeswimming.com. This year, at just 17 years old, he qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200-meter butterfly event. “Every day I go to practice and in the back of my head is Olympic Trials,” Burns said. “I think about the races that I’ll swim, I think about how I want to swim them, and I just imagine racing.” Burns said he spends around 20 hours a week training. He said he brings a goal-oriented mentality to the pool, and each time he jumps into the frigid water, he has the same thing on his mind: improvement. “It’s a matter of never settling and always wanting to get better. I look at my swimming career as a progression of setting goals, meeting those goals and then looking ahead to other goals that I can achieve,” Burns said. But, spending so much time in the pool has left Burns making sacrifices. “I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of my social life, I’ve had to sacrifice sleep. I have to watch my diet really closely. If my friends who don’t swim invite me to something, I often have to say I can’t go because of swim practice,” Burns said. “Swimming’s just such an instrumental part of my life that I don’t think anyone else could quite understand the things I’ve
Brendan Burns
sacrificed and the things I’ve done on the road to where I am right now.” However, Burns said he believes his hard work and resolute mindset have paid off, as a quick synopsis of his swimming career reveals a variety of school, state and even national records. The most recent of these is the national public high school record in the 200-short-course-meters freestyle—a record which he shattered by over three seconds. Despite holding several records, the achievement he said he is most proud of is his qualification for the Olympic Trials. “I was close to qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 2016, and to come back this time around and qualify at the earliest opportunity is definitely something I’m extremely proud of,” Burns said. Burns has been a member of Conestoga’s Swim and Dive team since he was a freshman, winning the state titles in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke for the past two years. As captain of the team this year with four titles under his belt, Burns hopes to win again at this year’s state championship in March. “It would make me the first Pennsylvanian to ever win two separate events three years in a row, and that’s something I’m very excited about,” Burns said. Burns said ’Stoga Swim has been an important part in his development as a swimmer, and the past four years have shown him what it means to swim with a team. “’Stoga Swim has really opened up my eyes to what we can accomplish as a team, and it has taught me how to swim when I’m tired— even if I’m exhausted or really beat up, the team still needs me so I always have to just do my best,” Burns said. Burns committed to Indiana University at Bloomington because of its notable swimming program.
Backstroke start (above) : Senior Brendan Burns prepares for the backstroke swim at the Upper Main Line YMCA at a ’Stoga practice. Burns joined the Conestoga Swim and Dive team back when he was a freshman. Smiling with pride (right) : Brendan Burns poses with his gold medals after the meet. Burns qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the 200-meter Butterfly event.
What counts when selecting a jersey by Olivia Thompson, photography editor designed by audrey kim, copy editor
Olivia cepielik
“I chose it because my sister has always worn it and she plays softball as well. She’s been someone I’ve looked up to in sports and in life in general, so I’ve been wearing it since I was young, maybe like six or seven.”
softball, senior
“The number 17 was my favorite number, but somebody on the team already had that so I went with the next closest number. Now it is more symbolic for me and it also is Denis Savard’s number (from the Chicago Blackhawks.) I look up to Denis because of what he did for the Blackhawks in the ’80s to help bring the team back.”
claudia latorraca ice hockey, sophomore
CONESTOGA
Numbers on a jersey are a defining element of a sport. From recognition on the field to chants on the sideline, numbers serve as large part of a player’s identity. Here are some numbers worn by ’Stoga athletes and the reason they chose them.
grace King lacrosse, senior
CONESTOGA
CONESTOGA
27
13
18
Commitment Corner Corner Commitment alex aufiero GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SPORT: LACROSSE GRADE: 11 Why GWU: “I chose George Washington University because I love the location and size of the school and I know that I will be challenged both academically and in lacrosse.”
“I usually try to pick the number 13 because it has been my lucky number for years. Good things have always seemed to happen with that number, and it is Taylor Swift’s lucky number as well. I picked it not only for myself but to support her on the field.”
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