28 Mar 2012 Conway High swimmers compete at Junior Nationals meet
by Mark Oliver
Conway high juniors Tyler Crosson and Jocelyn Woo recently represented the 501 in the National Club Swimming Association Junior Nationals in Orlando, Fla.
The event, which is considered to be the top 18-and-under swim meet in the country, featured more than 1,400 swimmers from over 250 teams, with Crosson and Woo being the only two swimmers from Arkansas. Both swimmers are members of the AquaKids program and practiced between six and seven times a week in preparation for the event, beginning as early as 5:30 a.m.
“To compete at this level of national event, a swimmer has to have confidence in themselves and their training,” said AquaKids coach Corey Coon-Cassily. “Both swimmers have achieved success at the local level. This meet allowed them to compete against the best swimmers that the entire country has to offer. To separate themselves [from the others], they have to have trained smarter and be able to put that into their races.”
Crosson placed 7th out of 144 swimmers in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.11 seconds. Although he earned a medal for his efforts, his time fell just short of the 23.49 qualification time for the Junior Olympic trials. Crosson also finished 23rd in the 100-meter freestyle and 30th in the 100-meter backstroke.
“Tyler is only a junior,” Coon-Cassily said. “He will get another chance to qualify. We do not want to derail his training just to get one qualification time at 17 years old. We will be focusing more on the end-of-summer meets in hopes of having an even larger group qualify for next year’s Junior Nationals.”
Just eight days after qualifying for Junior Nationals, Woo finished 67th in the 50-meter backstroke while also placing 142nd in the 50-meter butterfly and 154th in the 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter butterfly.
“This was the first time both of them have qualified and attended this level of meet,” Coon-Cassily said. “The best thing was that they both got better as the meet went along, getting better times and moving up placements. This meant they were feeling more comfortable as the competition went on.”
Both Crosson and Woo will be eligible to compete in Junior Nationals again next year as seniors. With the short course season coming to an end, the long course season begins over the summer with additional events and other chances to qualify for next year’s Junior Nationals.
“The hardest problem for any swimmer from a smaller state is to be able to perform at a high level in the morning swims,” Coon-Cassily said. “They have achieved their qualifications at finals of major-level local competitions. Now they have to achieve that same level during the preliminary events. Being able to do that translates into being able to do even better at the local events and allows them to have no fear.”
