Straight Outta Compton (Aquatic Center)
Thompson eyes 2020 Olympics
Less than a second. That’s all that separates senior Sarah Thompson from Olympic stardom. Only .44 seconds that, to her and her coaches, must feel like an eternity.
Thompson’s best event, the 50-meter freestyle, is an unforgiving race in which every fraction of a second counts. But numbers are only a small piece of the puzzle in a journey that began years ago.
“Coach Rob [Snowberger] actually taught me to swim when I was really little. [He] always wanted me to swim. He told me when I was really little that I had a natural stroke,” Thompson said, “but I was little. I didn’t know what that actually meant, but he always just kept pushing me to swim.”
“I was gonna do competitive, but it took up too much time with third-grade homework,” Thompson said, laughing.
However, Thompson chose to not take Coach Snowberger’s advice and decided instead to pursue a future in volleyball.
Thompson spent years honing her skills in volleyball, and now, in her senior year, she has been named to the Under Armour All-American watch list for volleyball.
“I was originally going to play volleyball in college, but I decided to switch,” Thompson said. “I love swimming. It’s fun. I like being in the water. It comes really easily to me.”
According to Thompson and her coaches, volleyball has made a world of difference on her swimming ability.
“Volleyball helped her an awful lot. She’s very explosive,” Coach Snowberger said.
Thompson agreed, saying volleyball improved her speed and her jump. Thompson needs all the advantage she can get because she’s starting the sport late by most standards.
“It can be hard to acclimate,” Coach Snowberger said. One of the biggest adjustments that occurs is the leap from school swimming to club swimming.
Competitive swimmers can swim 10,000 to 12,000 meters a day and practice as often as six days a week.
Thompson started swimming with Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club the summer of her sophomore year and has been with them ever since.
During the summer, Thompson practiced six days a week, two hours in morning and two hours in afternoon. In the morning, she had an hour of dry land workout and an hour of swimming, followed by two hours of swimming in the afternoon. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the team had three-hour practices.
“This summer was really busy, being an Olympic year,” Thompson said. Thompson participated in two big meets, one at Georgia Tech and one at Junior Nationals.
“It was my first Junior Nationals, so I was really nervous,” Thompson said. Thompson ended up finalling in her 100-meter backstroke, finishing 23rd overall.
Thompson is now becoming a popular recruit among colleges. She has taken or will take official visits at Purdue, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Missouri, Wisconsin and either Minnesota or Texas A&M.
With all of her success, it would be easy for Thompson to focus on only herself in the pool, but she is known by her teammates as much more than a great swimmer.
“As a teammate, Sarah is really supportive, and she’s always pushing everyone to go harder,” junior Julia Fogel, Thompson’s teammate, said.
Being a volleyball and water polo player, Thompson greatly appreciates the team aspect of
the sport.
“The team is one of the most important parts of swimming. It’s an individual sport, yes, but the people who you are around influence how you train and help get you motivated,” Thompson said.
“I think what really drives me is my teammates. They’re so positive and so supportive for everything I do.”
Individually, Thompson also has big dreams of one day racing in the Olympics. She will have to work hard to earn one of the 25 spots on the girls team.
Coach Snowberger agrees she has a shot but was quick to point out how few spots are available. Thompson, however, seems unphased by the news.
“That’ll be the summer of my junior year in college so it lands perfectly. That’s going to be my goal training-wise, to make the team,” Thompson said with a smile.
When asked if she thought Thompson could swim in the Olympics, teammate Fogel did not hesitate.
“Honestly, yes. She’s insane,” Fogel said. “I can’t believe how fast she’s gotten.”
In the meantime, Thompson says she will continue to hone her skills and in four years, fans may see her gracing the cover of a Wheaties box with a Gold Medal draped around her neck.
