For each member of Team Bruin, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials mean something slightly different.
First, there is Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard, who has been competing in the Olympic Trials since she was 14 years old. Now 26 and competing in her fourth Trials, Beard is not putting any additional pressure on herself to make the Olympics.
There is UCLA sophomore Emily Bibb, who never has been to an Olympic Trials meet and never dreamt she’d find herself on a plane to Omaha, Neb. She grew up playing other sports, and now Bibb feels fortunate just to be going.
There is also Bibb’s UCLA teammate, senior Anna Poteete. Poteete is looking to make best times while enjoying the company of her family, who will be there to watch her and her brother compete.
Finally, there is UCLA alumna and former All-American Kim Vandenberg.
After finishing fifth in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, three spots and a second away from Athens, Vandenberg badly wants to make it to Beijing.
“This has definitely been the goal since, forever.” Vandenberg said. “Especially after 2004. I made my first international team in 2005, and then from there I built on my experience, so this is definitely my last step. Everything has been training for Trials, and hopefully Beijing.”
Beard, Bibb, Poteete, and Vandenberg are four of the five swimmers who will comprise Team Bruin. They are also four of the 11 swimmers going to Trials with ties to UCLA. Those 11 current, former, and incoming Bruins are among the 1,209 men and women, ages ranging from 13 to 42, who have converged in Omaha for a shot at Beijing.
Just getting to the Trials, which began yesterday and will continue through July 6, is an accomplishment in itself. More than 500,000 people are registered with USA Swimming, but just over 1,000 got a ticket to Trials.
And it does not get any easier. There are more than 60 competitors swimming in each of the 13 events, and most races are formatted to have preliminary, semifinal, and final heats. Only the top-two finishers in each final heat qualify for the Olympics.
“It’s a huge deal,” coach Cyndi Gallagher said. “It’s people’s dream. If you make it to the Olympic Trials, you’re one of the elite swimmers. Only 26 men and 26 women make the Olympics out of 500,000 registered USA Swimmers. If you’re in the top 26, the chances of that is like lottery tickets.”
In fact, Beard thinks U.S. Olympic Trials are more intense than the Olympics themselves.
“The U.S. Olympic Trails are a lot more stressful, and I feel a lot more pressure doing that than actually swimming the Olympics,” Beard said. “After trials you can take a deep breath and say “˜Ah I made it. Now it’s just going and having fun.’ The trials are like the stressful part and the Olympics are like the party part.”
And what is the result of slim chances combined with life-long dreams?
“You’ve got a lot of people crying,” Gallagher said.
But Vandenberg and Beard have helped members of Team Bruin keep things in perspective. Throughout the team’s training, the tandem has led the way by setting an example for the younger, less experienced swimmers.
This will be Vandenberg’s third Olympic Trials, and she says she has learned a lot from her past two experiences.
“There’s a lot going on (at Trials), there’s a lot of different energy, so you just kind of need to focus on yourself,” Vandenberg said. “It’s hard. You need to know what your plan is and stick with that. There are a lot of external factors going on and you really just need to get in the zone.”
Aside from experiencing what Trials are actually like, Vandenberg said she has tried to learn a lot from others swimming around her at Trials in order to see how they compete and prepare. But perhaps the greatest thing Vandenberg has learned is that believing you can win is essential.
“(In 2000) I was going to Olympic Trials and everyone was really excited, but I didn’t believe I could make the team,” Vandenberg said. “I wasn’t going into the meet saying I was going to be on the team. It was more for the experience. I definitely have more experience and therefore, I have more faith in myself. I have a plan, I know what I need to do to make the team.”
While Vandenberg has always been a Bruin, Beard only recently came to train with UCLA. After swimming for the University of Arizona, Beard moved to the Los Angeles area about two years ago and began training with USC.
“I was training at USC, and it was not working out well at all,” Beard said. “With a lot of things, with the other swimmers on the team, the coaches, I was in a bad mood all the time. It was just all around a negative experience for me. I ended up coming to a breaking point.”
That breaking point came in early April at the Stanford Grand Prix after Beard had what she described as an “awful” swim in the 200 Breaststroke. Feeling like she was lacking camaraderie and support, Beard texted Gallagher to see if she could train with UCLA, and she was training with the team soon after.
An increase in age and a decline in time has made this Olympic Trials one of the most difficult for the three-time Olympian. Her choice to pursue TV commentary, endless photo shoots, and even health care and beauty products has limited her training time.
But that’s just fine with Beard because making a fourth Olympics, she says, won’t reflect the success of her swimming career as a whole.
“I definitely want to (make it), but my life isn’t over if I don’t make the 2008 Olympic Team,” she said. “Just the opportunity to be healthy and fit enough to try again is a cool thing for me. I think other people have higher expectations for me than I actually have.”
The combined leadership of Vandenberg and Beard has helped current Bruins prepare for the biggest meet of their life.
Having never been to the Olympic Trials before, Bibb said she is thankful for the chance to train with the experienced duo.
“They are role models, experts in this sport and professionals,” Bibb said. “I’m just trying to take all I can from them. They’ve just taught me so much. Helping me stay calm, (telling me) what to expect, what to look forward to. They’re also really good to race in the pool and really fun to have at practice.
“I just notice how they carry themselves at swim meets. They just know what they need to get done. They just race and they don’t hold anything back. They’re really good competitors.”
Both Bibb and Poteete are focused more on setting new personal best times than on trying to make an Olympic team.
Poteete, who started swimming as a freshman in high school, got her Olympic Trial time during the summer before she arrived at UCLA. But a broken arm suffered the following summer made her sophomore campaign a difficult one. Two summers later, however, Poteete feels primed for her best swims ever as she approaches her senior year at UCLA.
“My personal goal for myself is just to do best times and see how far I can push myself every single day,” Poteete said.
“I’ve worked really hard in and out of the pool. I’ve worked on my technique and attitude in the pool, so I want to see what kind of outcome that has. I just hope, hope, hope that it’s going to be a best time. But I’m pretty confident that it will be because I’ve made a lot of changes and I’m really excited to see what’s going to happen.”
To make the meet even more special, Poteete will get to go for her lifetime bests in front of relatives on both sides her of family, who will fly to Omaha to see both her and her brother swim.
“I’m just really excited to go and see all of them because I don’t get to see them a lot, especially not in the same place at the same time,” she said. “I’m very excited to be in the whole moment and cherish that everyone is there to support us. They’re very excited to see us swim ““ no matter how we do.”
Despite the differing goals and aspirations for Trials, one thing remains constant: Trials ranks as one of the best experiences for all the swimmers.
Bibb admits that “it’s No. 1″ and, when asked if these 2008 Trials represent her best shot at the Olympics, Vandenberg’s reply was simple:
“Definitely. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.”