MONROE - In the spirit of family vacations, Lisa Lang and her family will pack their bags and drive about 26 hours to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the YMCA National Short Course Swimming Championship.
Lang is one of five qualifiers from the Green County Golden Gators swimming team who will swim at the national swimming meet April 4-8 in Fort Lauderdale. Lang will swim on the 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle relays along with Leanna Schwartzlow, Rachel Root and Marissa Berg.
Will Fenner, 16, also qualified for nationals in the 100 backstroke.
"It's kind of like a vacation," Berg said. "You just have to swim hard twice."
Lisa Lang, who hasn't been out of the Midwest, is looking forward to the family road trip that will start Friday.
"It's unbelievable," Lang said. "I didn't know this year I was going to go to state let alone go to nationals. It still hasn't sunk in yet. I started thinking last month what I should pack. It's a crazy experience."
Schwartzlow, a senior, will be swimming her last meet.
"It's sad," said Schwartzlow, who will also swim the 100 breaststroke. "I'm excited I made it this far in my last year."
Peter Vanderkaay, a U.S. Olympian who is a middle distance freestyle swimmer and three-time medalist, will give a welcome speech on Monday to 1,684 swimmers from 218 YMCA's nationwide.
Green County's 200 medley relay team is seeded 31st out of 91 relay teams and the 200 freestyle relay is seeded 29th out of 88 teams.
The top 16 relay teams and top 24 individuals in each event advance to the finals. Schwartzlow has high expectations.
"I feel like we have a chance to make it to the finals," she said. "I'm optimistic."
Schwartzlow looks forward to swimming her signature event - the 100 breaststroke.
"It will be kind of nerve wracking since it's my last time ever," she said. "I haven't started packing yet. Hopefully, I remember everything."
Gator swimming coach Mark Lang understands that it's one final chance for Schwartzlow to shine.
"This is the sad goodbye," Mark Lang said. "She has done so much for Monroe High School swimming."
Root is excited about making the trip to nationals. Swimming in the national meet isn't new to her. She qualified and swam in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly last year.
"It's really exciting especially since we made it in the relays," Root said. "Relays are more fun. It makes it more of a team atmosphere. I think we can swim better and take more time off."
Berg is looking forward to another trip to Florida. Last year, Berg swam the 100 free, 50 free and 100 butterfly at nationals.
"It's awesome," she said. "You get to swim with your friends. It's an outdoor pool and it's warm."
Fenner, a junior, is drawing interest from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay about the possibility of swimming in college. Fenner and his family are also leaving Friday and driving to Florida. He qualified for nationals by finishing third in the backstroke at the USA regional.
"It was pretty exciting when I got the cut," Fenner said. "It hasn't hit me that I'm going there yet."
Fenner said he plans to just swim the best he can. He said the key to the backstroke is the under water kicking that can shave seconds off his best time of 55.27 seconds.
Fenner said he is shooting for a time of 54 seconds in the backstroke.
Mark Lang said Fenner is strong in every stroke, but he excels in the backstroke.
"He's a little edgier in the backstroke," said Mark Lang. "All of these young swimmers have worked hard and here is the reward."
Lang is one of five qualifiers from the Green County Golden Gators swimming team who will swim at the national swimming meet April 4-8 in Fort Lauderdale. Lang will swim on the 200-yard medley and 200 freestyle relays along with Leanna Schwartzlow, Rachel Root and Marissa Berg.
Will Fenner, 16, also qualified for nationals in the 100 backstroke.
"It's kind of like a vacation," Berg said. "You just have to swim hard twice."
Lisa Lang, who hasn't been out of the Midwest, is looking forward to the family road trip that will start Friday.
"It's unbelievable," Lang said. "I didn't know this year I was going to go to state let alone go to nationals. It still hasn't sunk in yet. I started thinking last month what I should pack. It's a crazy experience."
Schwartzlow, a senior, will be swimming her last meet.
"It's sad," said Schwartzlow, who will also swim the 100 breaststroke. "I'm excited I made it this far in my last year."
Peter Vanderkaay, a U.S. Olympian who is a middle distance freestyle swimmer and three-time medalist, will give a welcome speech on Monday to 1,684 swimmers from 218 YMCA's nationwide.
Green County's 200 medley relay team is seeded 31st out of 91 relay teams and the 200 freestyle relay is seeded 29th out of 88 teams.
The top 16 relay teams and top 24 individuals in each event advance to the finals. Schwartzlow has high expectations.
"I feel like we have a chance to make it to the finals," she said. "I'm optimistic."
Schwartzlow looks forward to swimming her signature event - the 100 breaststroke.
"It will be kind of nerve wracking since it's my last time ever," she said. "I haven't started packing yet. Hopefully, I remember everything."
Gator swimming coach Mark Lang understands that it's one final chance for Schwartzlow to shine.
"This is the sad goodbye," Mark Lang said. "She has done so much for Monroe High School swimming."
Root is excited about making the trip to nationals. Swimming in the national meet isn't new to her. She qualified and swam in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly last year.
"It's really exciting especially since we made it in the relays," Root said. "Relays are more fun. It makes it more of a team atmosphere. I think we can swim better and take more time off."
Berg is looking forward to another trip to Florida. Last year, Berg swam the 100 free, 50 free and 100 butterfly at nationals.
"It's awesome," she said. "You get to swim with your friends. It's an outdoor pool and it's warm."
Fenner, a junior, is drawing interest from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay about the possibility of swimming in college. Fenner and his family are also leaving Friday and driving to Florida. He qualified for nationals by finishing third in the backstroke at the USA regional.
"It was pretty exciting when I got the cut," Fenner said. "It hasn't hit me that I'm going there yet."
Fenner said he plans to just swim the best he can. He said the key to the backstroke is the under water kicking that can shave seconds off his best time of 55.27 seconds.
Fenner said he is shooting for a time of 54 seconds in the backstroke.
Mark Lang said Fenner is strong in every stroke, but he excels in the backstroke.
"He's a little edgier in the backstroke," said Mark Lang. "All of these young swimmers have worked hard and here is the reward."
