by SwimmerJoe

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’”
- from Rudyard Kipling’s “If”

If… and that’s the key word that sums up these Olympic Trials.
If I can swim the perfect swim…
If my coach and I timed my taper correctly…
If I can remember the finer tips my coach told me…
If my body’s muscle memory will perform…
If I can force my nerves to channel into my adrenaline…
If I can outpace the entire pool…
If I hear nothing but voices in my head…
If I can finish in the Top 2…
If I can shock the world!

And it’s that last “If” that excites me the most! The US Olympic Trials, aka the fastest meet in the world, always seems to have a surprise or two! All eyes are on Lochte and Phelps, Franklin and Soni, expecting big things from them.

But it’s the moment of the lifetime for those lesser know swimmers who may just rise to the occasion, hit all the “If’s” perfectly, and find themselves in the Top 2 and headed to London!

I can’t wait to see who will be that first athlete; the one who is not really in the running this year, to rise up and put the swimming world on notice.

Maybe it will be a swimmer from Florida, seeing as we have 111 athletes competing in Omaha this week. We know Ryan Lochte will be in the Olympics, but what about Becca Mann (CAT) in the 800 Freestyle who is seeded 10th, Carlos Omana (MAC) in the 400 IM who is seeded 16th, Melanie Margalis (SPA) in the 400 IM who is seeded 23rd, or even Molly Dubrasky (GCST) in the 100 Butterfly who is seeded 114th? Impossible, you say? Nope… it’s just a matter of “If” and possibly of “when.”

We know there will be one, maybe even two. It will be those whose adrenaline and will can give them the added speed to get in the finals and then….actually have a shot!

We shall see…who do you think it will be?