Anyone who makes headlines in the swimming world right now provokes one overriding discussion: What does this performance augur for the London Olympics, now less than nine months away? When Stanford's Maya DiRado and Bobby Bollier made news in recent months, the swimmers were asking themselves the same question.
"It's certainly a step in the right direction for what I need to be doing next summer," says DiRado, commenting on the gold medal she won in August in the 400-meter individual medley at the World University Games in China. The victory earned her front-page coverage in her hometown paper, but it was a level of hoopla she found awkward, given the accomplishments she hopes are ahead. "I don't want to sound falsely humble," explains the sophomore from Santa Rosa; it's just that "I am a lot of work away from having a shot at the Olympic team."
Worth noting: Although DiRado's triumph in China demonstrated her ability to handle pressure in an international setting, she displayed additional speed potential by finishing a few seconds faster while coming in second in the 400 IM in the U.S. Nationals at Stanford earlier in the month.
AT THE NATIONALS: Bollier won the 200-meter butterfly. (Photo: Richard C. Ersted/Stanfordphoto.com)
Bollier grabbed people's attention at the nationals by winning the 200-meter butterfly. A senior who says the past few years have been a combination of "successful moments and rough moments," Bollier, like DiRado, is thinking ahead to the Olympic trials in late June in Omaha. "That's a huge focal point for me."
The victory at the nationals is more of a return to form, going all the way back to high school performances, than a new burst of ability, says Bollier, who added a silver medal in the 200 fly at the World University Games. He has struggled with a variety of adjustments, including the ban on the high-tech swimsuits that gave many competitors a boost in 2008 and '09, but says he's "finally catching up to where I was. Things still need to be worked on, but I feel like I'm on the right track."
