After swimming for just six years, sophomore Anna Schliepp made it to spring nationals with her Oshkosh YMCA team, leaving the last week in March. Taking a plane to Greensboro, North Carolina, accompanied by six other swimmers, was just the start of Schliepp’s five-day experience. There, she swam the 800 free relay, 400 free relay, and the 200 free.
“Mentally, it was a really long meet, so I just had to stay in it,” Schliepp said.
The girls finished 22nd out of 181 teams. This was a huge accomplishment for the swimmers, but even so, the work to get there had its challenges.
“It was great seeing her make the national cut, but probably what sticks out the most is that in the previous four weeks, she got very close multiple times, but didn’t make it, and she stayed very positive. So many people get discouraged when things don’t go well,” Swim Coach Jay Coleman said.
This was an exciting moment for Schliepp, her teammates, and her parents as well.
“Her first opportunity [to make the nationals cut] was a Friday evening, as she was swimming the leadoff leg of a relay. Her mom and I sat in the stands, glued to the race, basically silent. When we saw the time on the board, we erupted with excitement, along with her teammates and coaches. We were overjoyed to see her achieve this goal after putting in so much time and effort,” father Dave Schliepp said.
If it wasn’t hard enough to get to nationals and participate, the ride home also posed its problems.
“Traveling on the way back, there was a big storm, so our plane got delayed. Then we had to make a 600-mile detour, down towards Texas and then back up,” Anna said.
Swimming for both Berlin’s swim season and the YMCA, along with school, homework, and other extracurriculars, is a lot to balance. Not only for Anna, but for her parents as well. Lots of transportation, support, and love stand behind a national-cut swimmer.
“We carpool to and from swim practice from Poy Sippi to Oshkosh. Normally, Anna has swim practice five to six days a week. We drive to swim meets around the area so she has chances to compete. We also try to have a selection of foods so she can fuel her body before and after practice. Both my husband and I regularly volunteer at swim meets from time to time, to count laps for Anna or work at the concession stand. We tell her often that we enjoy watching her swim,” mother Allison Schliepp said.
According to her coach, not only did her parents help get Anna to this point, but her positive mindset did as well.
“She has a great attitude and likes to work hard. Attitude is probably the biggest thing. There are lots of ups and downs in any athletic pursuit. Without a good attitude, the downs get to the kids, and they don’t achieve at the level they could,” Coleman said.
Both her parents are more than proud of Anna’s swimming career and the person she’s growing up to be.
“Competitive swimming isn’t easy. It’s a lot of long hours, late nights, early mornings, and showing perseverance even when it’s not fun. The work ethic she has learned through swimming is something that she will take with her in life,” Allison Schliepp said.
