Kinder surprises self with three personal bests

~ The upcoming schedule is full of events for Gators swimmers.

Steve Franklin, the coach of the Gators Swim Team, calls this time of the year "the busiest stretch we have."

When the meets involve championships, that's a good thing.

Gators swimmers are in a stretch that includes the Ozark regional championship and the Junior Olympics national meet as well as Junior Nationals for one swimmer and an international competition for another.

"At any different time the last two or three weeks, we could have as many as 16 different workouts going on at practice," Franklin said. "It's a fun time."

While the bulk of the team last weekend defended its Southeast Missouri Swim Conference championship at Central Municipal Pool, seven swimmers competed in the sectional meet in Oklahoma City.

Recent Central graduate Hannah Kinder took home a first place in the 200 freestyle (2 minutes, 4.39 seconds) and added second-place finishes in the 50 free (26.84) and 100 free (57.67). She posted personal best times in all three on the long course -- which has fewer turns and longer stretches of swimming -- despite a summer schedule that has been more relaxing than other stretches of her swimming career.

"I was really surprised with how well I did," Kinder said. "I was just expecting to see where I was -- it wasn't a big meet or anything -- but I got all best times."

"She took some time off, but she stayed in the water and kept swimming," Franklin said. "She swam great in the sectionals. On the long course, you really have to work on your stroke and maintain it longer."

Kinder next will swim in the Junior Nationals, scheduled for Aug. 6 through 10 in Indianapolis. She will compete in the 50, 100, 200 and 400 freestyle events before heading off to college swimming at Texas A&M.

"Junior Nationals is for the fastest 18-and-under swimmers in the U.S.," Franklin said. "The qualifying standards are very tough. Hannah already has her Senior Nationals cut and could have competed there [the week before], but we thought this worked better in the schedule.

"I think she can make the finals in all four, and she has a viable chance to win a couple of events if everything falls into place. She wants the national competition to help her get an Olympic trial cut, which will put her in the most elite group. There's no other level beyond that except making it to the Olympics."

One Gators swimmer has her sights set on the Paralympic Games, an event for athletes with physical disabilities that will follow the Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

Susan Beth Scott, who was a state qualifier for the Central girls swimming team as a freshman this past season, will add another international competition to her resume in the coming weeks.

After setting an American record in the 800-meter freestyle earlier this year at the Can-Am Championships in Montreal, Scott earned a spot on the U.S. team for the Parapan American Games, set for Aug. 12 through 16 in Rio de Janeiro.

Scott, who was born with a form of spina bifada, also set the U.S. Paralympic record in the 1,500 freestyle this summer with her performance in last week's sectional meet (18:48.66), although it is not recognized as a world record since it did not take place in a Paralympics event.

She also is trying to grab a spot on the U.S. Paralympic team to compete in 2008 in Beijing in the 400-meter freestyle -- the longest freestyle race in the Paralympic Games -- and will spend the next year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"The 400 is a tough event," Franklin said. "It's kind of a sprint and it's kind of a distance. I think it's the hardest event there is.

"The Olympic Training Center is going to be quite an opportunity for her," said Franklin, a former coach with the Paralympic national team. "The equipment there is the best in the world. We don't have that kind of access to that equipment."

Scott was to swim with the Gators this weekend in the Ozark long-course meet in Carbondale, Ill. Franklin was taking 25 swimmers to the region's championship event.

"We try to make it a big team deal," he said.

Eighteen members of the team and a few other swimmers from the area then will spend Monday through Friday at the AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville, Tenn., which is the championship event for qualifiers from the summer league.

In addition, three swimmers -- Austin Hobbs, 9; Allison Hobbs, 13; and Morgan Fraser, 14 -- will compete in the Central Zone Championships, Aug. 10 through 12 in Topeka, Kan.

"It's quite an achievement for an age-group swimmer to make AAA cut," Franklin said. "You have to earn your right to be in that meet."

Franklin notes, however, that the Gators are a club open to swimmers of all levels.

"We build swimmers one stroke at a time," he said. "We'll take kids who are on the ground floor and can't swim a lick."