Local swimmer Olivia Stewart is headed to Olympic Trials
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Former Evans and current Aiken-Augusta Swim League star Olivia Stewart is headed to Indianapolis for Olympic Trials.
There, she’ll be ed by Augusta Prep graduate and current South Carolina swimmer Amy Riordan.
Stewart will compete in the 100M breaststroke event, where her time of 1:10.13 earned her a spot against some of the best in the world. Riordan will compete in the 200M freestyle. The South Carolina swimmer holds the school record at 1:44.08.
MORE | Title-winning Harlem High baseball team honored at SRP Park
The back-to-back Georgia state champs will be recognized before the GreenJackets’ game at SRP Park.
Stewart shaved 2 seconds off her initial starting time this season to qualify, “I knew from the start, it was a far reach. I mean, two seconds. It might not sound like a lot, but it’s like a good chunk of time, two seconds. I wasn’t gonna lose anything if I didn’t try. So I just talked to my coach about it. We figured out what kind of splits are needed, what time I we need to go out and the first 50 back and the last 50. And so pretty much from maybe January or November to now we’ve just been slowly working at it, trying to get those splits right,” said Stewart.
“Two years ago, this wasn’t even a thought like I would have been irresponsible for me to even talk about it with her. She’s had a pretty meteoric rise, and I’m pretty excited about that,” said Stewart’s ASL Coach Greg Gillette.
She had 13 attempts at 100M breaststroke to get it right.
MORE | Olympics organizers unveil a display on the Eiffel Tower
The Paris Olympics organizers unveiled a display of the five Olympic rings mounted on the Eiffel Tower as the French capital marks 50 days until the start of the Summer Games.
“When you fail 12 times in a row, it should wear on you. Most kids, it would kind of wear on them and get them into a negative headspace. But she never once wavered. She was enthusiastic the whole time,” said Gillette.
In one weekend, Stewart swam the event six times. She still failed.
There’s a reason they call it lucky number 13.
“When I hit the wall, and I heard everyone just like screaming and cheering for me it was it was like the most exciting moment of my life. It was so it was incredible,” said Stewart.
Knowing that she’ll be up against some of the fastest in the world isn’t phasing her a bit.
“Just to kind of take a look back at four years ago, when the last Olympic trials was going on. I was barely starting swimming. The more big meets you go to, the more used to it you get. You’ve got to look at it as no one’s really looking at me. Like I’m there for myself. When I’m racing, the whole building isn’t staring at me like, ‘Is she gonna go whatever time?’ It’s just me and trying to go my best time, so I’m competing against myself,” said Stewart.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
