Franklin swimmer Oliver hitting another gear

<p>The ease with which Cade Oliver glides through the water has been noticeable to the swimming community in Johnson County and around the state of Indiana for quite some time now.</p><p>Over the past few months, the rest of the country has been picking up on it as well.</p><p>Oliver has tapped deeper into his seemingly limitless potential of late, climbing his way up the national ladder in both the backstroke and the individual medley.</p><p>He placed 10th in the 100-meter backstroke at the Speedo Junior National Championships in California last August, his best finish to date in a national meet. Between that meet and the Speedo Winter Juniors East meet last month in Atlanta, he’s racked up six top-27 individual finishes in his last two trips to the biggest stages — and he’s inched closer to earning a spot in this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.</p><p>In the 100-meter backstroke, his junior national time of 56.96 seconds left him just shy of the trials cut time of 56.59. In the 200 back, his lifetime best of 2:04.00 is also well within striking distance of the 2:02.99 cut.</p><p>Two of Oliver’s former teammates, Franklin graduates Michael Couet and Carla Gildersleeve, have already qualified for the trials in the breaststroke and butterfly, respectively. Their accomplishments, Oliver says, made the goal feel much more attainable.</p><p>&quot;It was a big thing when I heard that Michael got his first cut, and then Carla got her cut,&quot; he said. &quot;I’m like, ‘I think I’ve got to get mine now.’&quot;</p><p>He’ll have as many as three more chances to do so between now and this summer, including the Senior State meet in March. But as much as getting to the Olympic Trials would mean to Oliver, he isn’t willing to get there at the expense of the high school season. Franklin’s boys have finished second in the state each of the last two years, and Oliver is determined to help the Grizzly Cubs repeat that success.</p><p>And he’s got his own individual goals that dovetail nicely with those team plans. Oliver hasn’t placed higher than seventh in an individual event at his first two state meets, but that seems highly likely to change. The 49.25 that he swam in the 100-yard backstroke at the Speedo meet last month would have placed him fifth at state last year and would get him All-America honors this winter — and December is anything but peak season for fast times.</p><p>Both Oliver and Franklin coach Zach DeWitt believe he’ll be closer to the 47-second range at state next month, which should be able to get him at least into the top three. Only Carmel’s Wyatt Davis, who set the state record last year (46.66) and looks poised to threaten the national record of 45.34, has gone faster among returning swimmers.</p><p>Oliver is also shooting for the 1:47 range in the 200-yard IM, which is faster than the time Davis won the event with last year. Even though he’s likely to be matched up against one of the nation’s best seniors, Oliver says the goal is the same as it always has been — to win.</p><p>&quot;The higher I get,&quot; he said, &quot;the more points we get, the closer we get to another banner, so that’s my plan.&quot;</p><p>DeWitt sees no reason to place any limits on what Oliver can accomplish.</p><p>&quot;I feel really confident in his abilities,&quot; the coach said. &quot;He has been training really well; the most focused kid I’ve ever been around. He’s made improvements every year he’s been in high school in terms of his work ethic, his focus, his attention to detail, and right now he’s kind of at the peak of his mental focus.</p><p>&quot;Cade’s a gamer, and if the situation is right, and he’s in finals and he’s feeling good, he’s kind of at the peak of his powers in those kinds of moments.&quot;</p><p>Helping Oliver’s cause will be the absence of any recruiting-related stress. A highly coveted prospect who had the attention of most of the country’s top collegiate swim teams, he made a verbal commitment earlier this month to continue his career at the University of Missouri.</p><p>Having that decision out of the way should make a huge mental difference over the next year or so.</p><p>&quot;It was a big stressful thing on me,&quot; Oliver said. &quot;I felt like I couldn’t really breathe very well because I had a bunch of things going on college-wise, so when I committed I just felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could actually focus on the things I need to. It felt great.&quot;</p><p>The next big things that Oliver is focusing on, schoolwork aside, are the sectional and state meets. The sectional hasn’t been as much of a concern in recent years, as Franklin has dominated the meet — but the perspective changed a bit when the Grizzly Cubs suffered a convincing defeat against Center Grove at the Johnson County meet a month ago.</p><p>The Trojans are sixth in the state’s midseason rankings, with Franklin one spot behind.</p><p>&quot;That definitely lit a fire under all of us,&quot; Oliver said of the county setback. We were kind of expecting it, but not by that much. We were like, ‘Oh, okay, it’ll be really close and maybe they’ll win, maybe they won’t,’ but when they won by that good amount, we all were like, ‘We’ve got to get our heads on straight.’&quot;</p><p>If anyone can help the Grizzly Cubs do that, DeWitt figures, it’s Oliver. The coach says that he always saw Oliver’s natural talent, and that it was a matter of time before the maturity came along to complement that talent.</p><p>Now that it has, there’s no telling how high the ceiling is.</p><p>&quot;I think that he could be a top two or three backstrokers in the entire nation for around his age,&quot; DeWitt said, &quot;and accolades like that get you on a World Junior team, potentially. He can be that good, and I’m not shy about that at all.&quot;</p>