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After year off Stanton shines in the pool
Published: January 30, 2010
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A year ago Liz Stanton was done with the sport of swimming.
After graduating from Waverly High School, Stanton was at Mansfield University, but wasn't sure she wanted to try and balance swimming with her academics.
"I didn't swim at all, I thought to myself that I was done with swimming," Stanton said.
While she had concerns about trying to do a sport in college, the Waverly graduate realized how much she really missed swimming.
"I was a little worried if I would be able to handle school and swimming," she said. "I saw during the time off though how much I missed it."
Now Stanton is back in the pool and in her last home meet of the season she won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke for Mansfield.
"It's been really fun meeting all the new girls and being able to build the program up, it's been really nice," she said. "We basically have a whole new team, we only have two returners from last year, but we've been pretty good with all the new girls."
While Stanton and the Mountaineers have found success this year, she knows that there are challenges after taking a year off.
"It's been a little tough, because I took a year off," she said. "I'm definitely working to try and be more ready for next year. It's definitely been hard coming back after taking a year off."
One of the biggest adjustments for Stanton was getting back into the schedule that comes with being a swimmer.
"Waking up at 6 a.m., I was not really used to that," she said. "It's a lot like high school with the double sessions we had in the summer during high school, except now, unlike high school, the double sessions don't stop after the summer."
There are also some big differences from swimming in high school to now competing in college.
"They are definitely a lot more strict in practice and the distances are a big adjustment, the number of yards we swim is a lot different."
While Stanton has been able to find success this year, her goal for the year was just to get back to the times she was swimming in her last year of high school.
"This year I just am trying to get back to where I was before," she said. "I have just been working to get back to my high school times, and then next year I want to try and get to where a D-II swimmer should be."
As her first college season winds to a close, Stanton is back to the times she swam before taking a year off, something she was worried may never happen.
"I was definitely worried," she said. "I was worried at the beginning of season that taking all that time off and being out of shape that I would never get back to this."
Now Stanton is excited about having a chance for a big season next year.
"I'm definitely looking forward to next year and getting my times down to where they should be," Stanton said. "It has been really nice and fun this year, but I'm definitely looking forward to next year.
And whatever happens next year Stanton has a new approach when it comes to swimming.
"It's kind of different then it was in high school," she said. "In high school I was real focused before a race, now I take it a little lighter, but I'm still able to do well. I'm having more fun now."
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