Freshman Taylor Williams competed at the National Club Swimming Association Championship
Freshman Taylor Williams experienced similar success on BSM’s girls’ swim team.
April 17, 2018
Freshman Taylor Williams competed at the National Club Swimming Association Championship (NCSA) in Orlando, Florida from March 13-17 this year. Williams represented the Aquajets National Swim Team as she swam against hundreds of girls from across the country.
Williams competed in ten different events: 50 yard Freestyle, 100 yard Freestyle, 200 yard Freestyle, 200 yard Freestyle Relay, 400 yard Freestyle Relay, 800 yard Freestyle Relay, 50 yard Backstroke, 50 yard Butterfly, 100 yard Butterfly, and 400 yard Medley Relay.
Her 200 yard Freestyle Relay team placed 17th, and her 800 yard Freestyle Relay team placed 10th. She achieved her best time in the 50 yard Freestyle of 23.82 seconds. Most impressively, Williams placed 12th in the country in the 50 yard Butterfly with a best time of 24.56 seconds.
As a whole, the combined men’s and women’s Aquajets Swim Team placed 2nd in the country. “I’ve waited two years for this meet so I could swim a full schedule and three weeks before the meet I sprained my ankle, so I had to work through the pain and continue to train to keep my endurance up. I was nervous I couldn’t swim my full schedule, but I was able to work through it and push aside the pain to swim successfully and achieved three best times,” Williams said.
With great success comes a lot of time, effort, and commitment. Williams practices two hours a day Monday through Saturday in addition to 45 minutes dryland practices three times per week, and swimming for 75 minutes twice a week before the school day. In order to qualify for the Aquajets National Swim Team, a swimmer must achieve two NCSA qualifying times, be at least 15 years old, attend nearly every practice, and demonstrate a high level of dedication as well as a humble nature. “I got my first [qualifying time] in 7th grade at the state meet in the 50 free, and my second one in 8th grade in the 100 free, so when I turned 15 in January I was placed on the national team,” Williams said.
In the fall, Williams won the Minnesota High School State Swim Meet in the 200 yard Freestyle with a time of 1:50.04 seconds and took second in the 100 yard Freestyle with a time of 51.34 seconds. “High school swimming was a great opportunity to have fun and meet new people. I’m glad I was able to compete with both teams this year. Swimming isn’t always easy, a lot of the time it’s a very mental sport so it’s great to have both teams supporting me every step of the way,” Williams said.
