Anna Thompson, an eighth-grader at Mesa Academy, is following in the footsteps of her grandmother, mom and big sister in the family tradition of competitive swimming.
Anna Thompson
In February, Anna qualified in five events in the 13-year-old to 14-year-old age group, sending her to the USA Swimming Junior Olympics held in Yuma.
In competitive swimming, where tenths of a second could mean the difference between first place and last place, seconds are a big deal. Anna bested her qualifying times, dropping a whopping 45 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley, or IM, with a time in the top five. She shaved 27 seconds off her time in the 400-yard IM, securing ninth place out of 60 competitors.
Anna is a good all-around swimmer who does really well in the individual medley, a race that requires a swimmer to be strong and fast in all the strokes—butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and the crawl, or freestyle. “I love the 200-yard IM because you can sprint all the strokes,” Anna said.
She has a routine when preparing for a race. “After I warm up, I like to take a dive or two,” she stated. “I will rest and drink a ton of water, and try to eat something small. I think about how I am going to swim the race. Like, in the 200, I think about how I have to start out strong on the first 50 yards and hold that pace on the second 50. Push on the third 50. That’s when it gets hard. Then sprint on the last 50.”
Anna likes the 400-yard IM, too, but uses a different strategy when swimming that race. “Because the race is longer, I can build through it. I start off with a strong butterfly,” she explained. “I am pretty good with backstroke, and I am OK at breaststroke. Then I go all out with freestyle.”
Eric Dimmery, one of Anna’s three coaches at the Mesa Aquatics Club, observes that Anna is a great teammate and is an asset to the team. He remarks her recent success is all about attitude. “Anna brings it to her workouts,” he stated. “She has made a decision on her own to put in the work, and it has paid off.”
Anna’s mom, Melissa Thompson, echoes Eric’s assessment. “As Anna has worked harder in practice, she is seeing results,” she said proudly. For Anna, it is full steam ahead. “I want to keep dropping my times,” she stated. “Breaking the minute mark in the 100-yard freestyle would be fun.”
To accomplish all she has achieved, Anna attends swim practice five evenings a week and on Saturday mornings at the Kino Aquatic Center, where Anna and her teammates do both dry-land workouts and in-pool practice. Out of the pool, coaches work on strengthening muscle groups swimmers don’t consistently use. By concentrating on running and yoga, the change-up is fun for the team and helps to reduce overtraining.
Not only is Anna a well-rounded swimmer, but she also is a well-rounded teen with a busy schedule. School and swim practice occupy the majority of her activities. Wednesday piano lessons allow her to express her creative side, and a leadership role at church completes her week. She also finds time to hang out with friends. Next year, as Anna moves into high school, she is looking forward to swimming on the Mountain View High School varsity team with her sister.
The Mesa Aquatics Club is located at 848 N. Horne Ave. For more information, call (480) 644-2376.