Menz is motivated to finish strong

Notre Dame senior Brittany Menz failed to place in the top 16 in both of her two individual events at the state swimming meet last winter.

That was a first for Menz, who had placed in the top 16 in at least one of her two events the previous two years, and placed 10th in one state race as a freshman.

One reason she struggled was because she battled a sinus infection much of the winter. It forced her to miss practices, and she even struggled with it during the state meet.

But her drop in performance at state, combined with her desire to earn a scholarship to swim in college next year, has made Menz, a senior, work harder this winter.

"This is my last year," Menz said. "I need to be at the top of my game."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comNotre Dame's Brittany Menz already has qualified for the state meet in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

Menz has made some changes to her workout. She is spending more time swimming with her club team, the SEALs, rather than with Notre Dame. She said this allows her to get tougher workouts on a daily basis as she strives to cut her times, which she has struggled to do the past couple of years.

And Menz realizes she must remain healthy after battling sinus infections each of the past two seasons.

So far everything is going well. She has qualified for the state meet in five individual events -- the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly. And she has helped Notre Dame start strong as a team.

Menz has received some interest from college swimming programs, including her top choice, Southern Illinois University.

"It's really important [to do well this year]," Menz said. "I definitely want to get top eight this year at state, so me being healthy and coming to practices as much as possible will definitely help me to do that."

Menz's mother, Bonnie Menz, said she has seen her daughter, who has been swimming for nine years, become more serious about the sport this year. But she added that Brittany has become much more committed since her sophomore year after she quit swimming for a month.

"We went through a spell where we almost thought she was going to give up on swimming for good," Bonnie Menz said. "I think she was starting to go through a burnout stage and she didn't want to go to practices and we didn't want to force her. We gave her the option, 'You either quit or you give it all you've got.' She quit for a month or so and then she came back and was like, 'Mom, I want to go back.' We let her go back and it seems like she has been more focused since she did that."

Menz has a love-hate relationship with swimming. She said the year-round time commitment frustrates her sometimes. Plus, getting motivated for practices is more difficult for her than other local swimmers. But she said that whenever she has thought about quitting for good, she always feels drawn back to it. With college around the corner and the potential to swim at that next level, she has realized even more her passion for the sport.

She earned first-place finishes in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke while helping Notre Dame beat local rivals Jackson and Central in a tri-meet Dec. 9. She finished first in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly while helping the Bulldogs swim past Jackson on Dec. 10.

Menz is especially focused on cutting her times. Although she is one of the top local swimmers, she has experienced difficulty cutting times in races.

"I really haven't dropped much time since I was like 15," she said. "So me coming here to practice and working hard is hopefully going to help me do that. A lot of people hit this time period where they just kind of stay the same. I think I hit that little slump."

Bonnie said that Brittany has shown she is more serious this year by choosing to work out mainly with the SEALs. Brittany is averaging about 7,000 yards each day with her club.

Brittany practiced primarily with the Bulldogs team as a freshman. She said she practiced with both Notre Dame and her club as a sophomore and junior, but most of the time she practiced with Notre Dame. This is the first year she primarily has swam with the SEALs during the school season.

"The [Notre Dame] coaches realize that I will get a better workout out here with SEALs," said Menz, who added that her coaches are fine with her not attending school practices as long as she practices with her club and attends school practices the day before meets.

Menz is working toward a top-eight finish in the two individual events -- the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle -- that she plans to compete in at the state meet.

"She is training harder and harder right now than she probably ever has," Menz's father, Tim Menz, said. "She's trying to impress the colleges right now.

"I think she is swimming as well as she has in the last four years right now. Her times are equal and a couple of them have been her best times."

Last winter at the state meet, Menz placed 23rd in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2 minutes, 2.75 seconds, and 18th in the 100 freestyle (56.07). It was the first year she had swam the 200 at state. The two previous years she swam the 100 and 50 freestyles.

She finished 10th (54.43) in the 100 freestyle as a freshman and 11th (54.79) in that same race as a sophomore.

Bonnie and Tim said Brittany was frustrated with her state performance last year.

Brittany said although she realized she did not do as well as previous years because she was sick, she would have liked to have done better. She said the sinus infection forced her to miss a week of school, and missing practices got her out of shape and made her fall behind in conditioning. She also had difficulty breathing while swimming.

But Brittany -- who also has a goal of being the conference meet MVP -- is feeling fine this year when it seems like it matters the most to her.

"It's very important to her that she does well this year," Tim Menz said. "She wants to go out her senior year doing very well."