Down by nearly a second and a half when she left the starting block, Lara Phipps didn’t worry about making up all of the ground right away.
But by the time she came off the final wall of her anchor leg during the 400-yard freestyle relay at last month’s Johnson County meet, the Center Grove freshman realized that first place was within reach.
Phipps outswam her Franklin counterpart by a full two seconds, covering her 100 yards in 52.88 seconds to help the Trojans run down the Grizzly Cubs and win the event.
“For the the first 50 (of my leg) I was just trying to catch up,” Phipps said, “and then I saw her at the last 25 and I was like, ‘I can do this, I can catch up to her,’ and I was just trying my hardest to try to finish before her.”
So far, Phipps has made a habit of finishing before people during her first high school swim season. A valuable contributor on the Center Grove cross country team in the fall, she has been even better in the water.
Phipps won the county title in the 200 freestyle, outdueling Greenwood senior Grace Nuhfer by just over half a second (1:57.06 to 1:57.59). Nuhfer returned the favor by beating her in the 100 butterfly, but the fact that Phipps is already holding her own against upperclassmen bound for Division I colleges is certainly a positive development.
Though an accomplished age-group swimmer, Phipps hadn’t come into the season with sky-high expectations.
“This year, I just want to compete,” she said. “It’s my first year, so I just want to see what’s out there, just do my best and hope that’s good enough to place in the top three (at sectional) or maybe even get first.”
Center Grove coach Jim Todd said that Phipps has performed well through the first part of the season, but added a caveat: “Well is relative. 1:57 in a 200 free today was a good swim. In February, it doesn’t do anything. So it’s relative.”
After her strong county showing, Phipps will get another opportunity to see how she stacks up against some of the state’s best at this weekend’s MIC meet, where she and the Trojans will be up against perennial powers Carmel and North Central.
The fact that Phipps has done so well is even more impressive given that she spent much of the fall out of the water due to cross country — and then lost another two weeks of swim practice when the bulk of the Center Grove team was quarantined in early November.
Balancing the two sports is tough, she says, but they have generally been mutually beneficial.
“During cross country I tried to focus on cross country, but I still tried to get in the pool once a week, just trying to swim,” Phipps said. “Now I’m kind of off of cross country. I’m not really running anymore, but I’m still trying to keep in shape for running. It’s hard to balance, but it works out.
“They’re both distance, more stamina, so it helps with my breathing and just keeping my heart rate up for those longer distances.”
Next month, Phipps will find out if she can go the distance and qualify for the state meet, where she hopes to help what should be the best team the Trojan girls have put together in a few years.
When asked what kind of postseason impact Phipps can make this winter, Todd left his answer very open-ended:
“That’s up to her,” he said.
