Despite not advancing beyond the preliminary round in the USA Olympic Trials, Lauren Funk can use the experience as a building block.
Funk finished the preliminary round tied for 79th in the 50-meter freestyle, moving up 22 spots from her starting position of 107. She also posted her second fastest time ever, 26.38.
Funk said she had a great experience, and the support of her teammates from afar was overwhelming.
“It made me extremely thankful for however many people told me good luck,” Funk said. “My Facebook and Twitter was blowing up all day; I know how many people are behind me in everything I do. It’s awesome.”
She said her trip to the Olympic Trials was validation of all the hard work she put in throughout her career to get to where she was.
“It makes me feel like I’ve made it in swimming,” Funk said. “I’ve actually done something to make it all worthwhile. The hard work definitely doesn’t feel all that great when you’re doing it but once you get here it’s all worth it.”
She said this experience will help her at Ohio University, and she can pass on information she has learned to younger swimmers.
“Having qualified for this meet is a great experience,” Funk said. “Not many swimmers can say they’ve been to a meet this big or serious, so having done this I feel it prepared me for any situation in swimming.”
She credited Ohio’s assistant coach Anthony Harris’s boxing workout, which started last year. She has felt stronger this year than she had ever been and felt like she matched up well to other competitors strength-wise.
Harris said the training helped her this year in her explosiveness.
“In the 50 free, explosiveness and power is everything,” Harris said. “You have to have that and I think that the explosiveness and power she gained this year is partially due to the boxing that was done.”
Harris said with each meet she understands more about her body and that will benefit her in the upcoming year.
“She knows how to respond with the way her body’s doing and how to make sure that she’s ready for anything and I think she can take that forward into her senior year,” Harris said.
Harris said he was not only proud of Funk for qualifying, but also the fact that she was able to swim well.
“To be able to come here and swim within a tenth of your best time, even putting up her second best time ever is also a huge accomplishment for her,” he said.
Funk said if she decides to compete for a shot at the Olympics four years from now, she will swim for Ohio’s club team.
mk277809@ohiou.edu
