Safritt swimming for gold

Stacie Safritt might have a chance to swim against the world. Safritt, a Pitt senior, will be… Stacie Safritt might have a chance to swim against the world. Safritt, a Pitt senior, will be competing for a spot on the Olympic swim team next week after she qualified for the Olympic trials at the Omaha Swimvitational June 15.

Safritt said qualifying has always been a goal in the back of her mind. And it comes after a rough end to her junior season, which was marked by a sudden, meet-ending flu at the Big East Championships and shoulder problems during post-season training in April.

To get back in shape to qualify, Safritt was right back in the pool after her physical problems passed.

Safritt took a break from swimming in mid-May, but she still wasn’t exactly out of the water. She took two weeks off of practice to go on a cruise, a move that made her coaches skeptical because of its proximity to the Olympic trials.

But in the end, Pitt coach Chuck Knoles said it was for the best.

“It turned out that she needed [the break] at that point,” said Knoles.

Even after getting to this year’s Swimvitational, Safritt was still facing an uphill battle. Only 24 swimmers from the preliminary heats got to return to finals, and Safritt’s 27th-place finish didn’t make the cut – at least not at first.

After three swimmers were scratched from the competition, Safritt moved up to 24th and had the chance to race again.

Safritt touched in at 26.19 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle event, taking 17th place and coming back from the 27th place finish in the preliminary race.

She ended up qualifying and has spent a week and a half doing intense workouts since then. She’ll spend the rest of her workouts doing lower amounts of yardage and keeping her body as rested and relaxed as possible, which is a common routine called tapering that swimmers use before big meets.

As destiny would have it, she’s also lucky enough to race in the same pool that she swam at for the trials – the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

“It’s such an advantage,” said Knoles. “Going to a high pressure situation like that and having already swam in the facility, that’s huge for them.”

In order to be considered for the Olympic team, Safritt will need to finish in the top two of the competition.

But Knoles said it will be tough to finish with a time that strong.

“That would be a stretch,” said Knoles. “But you never want to tell someone like Stacie that, because the sky is always the limit for her.”

Safritt acknowledged she might not make the Olympic cut, so she’s setting other goals.

“I would like to do well,” said Safritt. “But the main goal that I want to have is to enjoy the experience and have fun. Of course I’d like to have a successful swim, but I’m just happy to get to this level. Ultimately my goal would be to place within the top 24 or 16.”

Knoles said Safritt’s motivation and thrill for competition is one of the things that makes her successful and gives her a chance.

“She’s a very, very stubborn-minded competitor,” said Knoles. “She has a little bit of that Tiger Woods mentality. She decides she’s going to do something and she has to do it.”

It’s gotten her far. As a swimmer she has continually led her team with a slew of wins and will lead as Pitt’s captain for the 2008-09 season. As a person, her coach can’t speak about Safritt with anything but pride.

“We’re very, very proud of her,” said Knoles. “I’m most proud as a head coach that she has worked through obstacles that have appeared in her life to get her where she is. That’s really the hallmark of maturity and of a great athlete – that you’re able to take the obstacles of life that happen, and you can work through them to make them better. She’s done that.”