Gralow earns spot at national swim championship
SANDPOINT — Sandpoint High School swimming phenom Paulina Gralow became the first Sandpoint resident ever to qualify for a national swimming championship, securing a spot in this week’s 2008 Speedo Junior National Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.
Gralow, a senior and three-time Idaho state champion in the 100 meter breaststroke, her signature event, has been training in New Mexico all summer with former area swim coach Trever Gray. Her goal all along was to qualify for nationals, which she did by the narrowest possible margin.
Her swim at the recent sectional qualifying meet in Portland, Ore., was her best ever, dropping .26 seconds off her personal best and clocking a 1:14.39, remarkably the exact minimum standard needed to qualify for nationals. The immediate moments after the swim, when she found out the amazing news, were recounted separately last week by those involved — the swimmer and coach.
Gralow: “When I touched the wall after the swim, I didn’t look at the clock, I was too nervous.”
Gray: “After I put my fist in the air, she still hadn’t looked at the clock, so I messed with her and went over to the blocks with a straight face.”
Gralow: “I looked at him and couldn’t read his facial expressions.”
Gray: “She hopped out of the water and started to tear up, then I couldn’t help it and she knew.”
Gralow: “I was freaked out. It’s the whole reason I came down here (New Mexico) to train.”
Gray: “Her face lit up and she leapt off the platform and gave me a huge hug. She was ecstatic, so pumped up.”
Gralow will swim in the nationals on Thursday, when she’ll compete against more than 100 of the top 18 and under swimmers in the nation in the 100 meter breaststroke. She’s seeded 77th in the field, which is slightly deceptive, as only 1.5 seconds separate her and the top time.
She’s been training all summer at more than 5,700 feet elevation in Farmington, New Mexico, on a team of youth swimmers coached by Gray, who recently relocated there from Sandpoint. After adjusting to the altitude, she’s logged countless hours in the pool every day, coupled with yoga and weight training, all in the hopes of making nationals. Finally there, she has set a goal of making it into one of the final heats.
“I’m going to go for it and see what I can do,” she said of nationals.
Gray believes she has what it takes to make some noise at the prestigious meet, which features many of the top swimmers in the nation.
“At meets like this you either fold from pressure or step it up and come out of nowhere,” said Gray, who swam in college at the University of Arizona. “I think she can step it up.”
After nationals, Gralow will return to Sandpoint hoping to not just win her fourth state title this fall, but break the state record along the way. Gray said he has talked to a few college recruiters already, and believes Gralow will swim in college.