16-year-old Park City resident Audrey McDonald has been swimming for over a decade.
“Since I was, I’d say around five. My older sister swam for a really long time and she was doing it, so I think my mom wanted to put me in too. It kind of just clicked from the beginning.”
McDonald broke the state record for the 800-freestyle for girls aged 15-16 at the Futures Championships in Santa Clara, California in early August. The record she broke was 14 years old.
“Like in every sport, there’s a state record. Normally for Utah, because swimming isn’t a huge thing in Utah the times are from 1988 to early 90’s and a lot of people haven’t broken them. So, it was cool, I got it in the 800 freestyle. I wasn’t really going for it, it was kind of a fluke. I got to the wall and I went 9:10 and the state record was a 9:11. Swimming is put into age categories, so it was 15-16 and then they have seniors. So, I got (the record) for 15-16 year old’s which was pretty cool. For 15 and under I have the yards time for the 500, and then I have the 400-long course, in meters. It’s cool to have three state records. I’m a long-distance swimmer I didn’t expect it, but it was super cool and I’m glad I got it.”
McDonald also qualified for the 2018 Winter Jr. Nationals, they take place the first week of December in Austin, Texas.
“I qualified for Junior Nationals. It’s probably one of the biggest meets in the country. Anybody can come, mostly it’s kids, not a lot of 16 and 17-year old’s go. Mostly it’s college kids that are trying to get, especially right now, trying to get to Olympic trial cuts because Tokyo’s coming up pretty fast. So, it was definitely a goal (of mine) for the past two or three years but the times are crazy fast. I got it in the mile I went 17:18 and so I (qualified) by two seconds which is pretty cool. After junior nationals goes nationals and then Olympic trials. So hopefully next year I’ll get to nationals, as a 17-year-old that would be pretty cool.”
Although Park City is not known as a hot-bed for Olympic Swimmers yet, McDonald says training at a higher elevation is an advantage.
“I think it definitely helps a lot. Going places like California and Arizona it gives me a little boost of energy. It’s funny because we have visitors come all around the country, they don’t swim very well here because they’re not used to the altitude. I think that definitely works to my advantage sometimes, especially in long distance.”
