 (Photo Courtesy of Princeton's Office of Athletic Communications)
MAKING WAVES: Princeton University freshman swimming sensation Alicia Aemisegger flies through the water in action earlier this season. Aemisegger is currently ranked third in the U.S. in the 400 individual medley and is training five hours a day as she drives to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. |
Alicia Aemisegger took up swimming as a third grader mainly for the social benefits of being on a team.
"I was eight and I just moved into a new town and my mother wanted me to swim to make friends," recalled Aemisegger. "At the time I could barely finish a lap. I still had so much fun, I got really close to my teammates."
Coming under the tutelage of legendary Germantown Academy swim coach Dick Shoulberg in fifth grade, Aemisegger blossomed, transforming herself into a swimmer who was soon lapping the competition.
Aemisegger qualified for the U.S. nationals as a freshman at Germantown and a year later came within .03 seconds of earning a spot on the U.S. national team in the 400 individual medley.
Deciding to come to Princeton University this past fall rather than to perennial swimming power U.S.C., Aemisegger has made waves for the Tigers right from the start, setting program records in the 400 IM, 200 butterfly, and 1000 freestyle in her first few meets.
This weekend, Aemisegger will aim to add some more titles to her resume as the Tigers host the Ivy League championships from February 15-17 at DeNunzio Pool.
As she looks forward to her Ivy championship debut, Aemisegger said the bond she has developed with her new teammates has been a key factor as she has rewritten the program's record book.
"We're family; it's so nice, I can't imagine a better group," said Aemisegger, who is ranked third in the U.S. in the 400 IM and will be competing in the World University games later this year as she continues her drive to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. "Everybody is so understanding and supportive of what I'm doing. I love it; it makes you want to do better for the team."
Keeping her support system intact was a major factor underlying Aemisegger's interest in Princeton. "I wanted to stay with Shoulberg until the Olympic trials," said Aemisegger, who has made the 35-minute trip to Germantown on most weekends in order to continue her training with Shoulberg.
"I could have gone far away but I didn't know if it was going to work out. Susan Teeter [Princeton head coach] was OK putting her two cents in on my training while letting Shoulberg still work with me."
The arrangement has worked well. "It's perfect," said Aemisegger. "As I'm getting older, I have the base but I want to improve my racing technique. I get to swim with the boys and girls at Princeton and that helps with the level of competition."
Teeter, for her part, knows that she has something special on her hands in Aemisegger. "I think she has God-given ability," said Teeter, who is in her 23rd year guiding the Tiger women's swimming program. "She also has an incredible ability to recover quickly from hard training. She can handle an extreme workload. There are certain kids built that way."
While Princeton's foes might not agree this weekend, Teeter believes that Aemisegger's exploits are good for the whole Ivy League.
"I think it's exciting for the league to have someone who can draw attention and show that you can be an elite athlete and handle an Ivy League academic workload," said Teeter, whose team topped Columbia last Friday to complete a 6-0 Ivy campaign.
Teeter is excited about her team's chances this weekend in the wake of its superb performance two weekends ago in winning the H-Y-P meet.
"We had a beautiful meet, we swam faster than we expected," said Teeter, whose team won the Ivy League crown last year and has earned the title in six of the last eight years. "You have to learn how to win, it's not just going to be handed to you. The older kids had lost the title and they wanted it back."
The veteran coach likes the chemistry that has developed between Aemisegger and her older teammates. "I think she loves it; she's excited about the opportunity to get an Ivy League education and the chance to embrace a team," added Teeter. "They've embraced her and I've enjoyed watching that process."
Teeter believes that process could land Aemisegger a berth in the 2008 Olympics. "I think she's going to be right there," asserted Teeter. "She just needs to get her hand in there first. There is a small margin of error and she just has to want it more and keep working hard."
Aemisegger acknowledges that the Ivy meet is just one step on the way to her other swimming goals. "I'm training through it, the big meet will be the NCAAs," said Aemisegger. "It will be a good in-season meet for me. I really want one of our relay teams to qualify for the NCAAs."
The other Tiger swimmers have helped Aemisegger hone her skills as she looks to reach a higher level in her IM specialty. "We have some good IM swimmers here," added Aemisegger, who typically swims 14-15,000 yards a day in addition to a dry land regimen which includes weight training, stretching, and plyometrics.
"They are better on the first half and I'm better on the last half. I try to keep up with them in the first half. I need to work on my underwater kicking; my backstroke needs a lot of work."
Aemisegger, for her part, believes the combination of her Princeton experience and the Shoulberg regimen should set her apart from her competition.
"It has really helped me to be around my teammates, I've really gained a lot from that," said Aemisegger, whose training routine averages five hours a day.
"Shoulberg has also given me confidence. He pushes you so hard. He says when we are in the blocks, we should be able to look at the other swimmers and know that you've trained harder than anyone. I'm always nervous in the blocks but that gives you a layer of confidence."
Aemisegger figures to make Princeton's Ivy foes plenty nervous this weekend as she flies through DeNunzio Pool.