Cooper City swimmer hopes to glide to state meet
Cooper City’s Kathleen Golding is looking to make waves in the pool and leave others in her wake this year.
The junior at Cooper City High School is off to a good start thus far.
As a sophomore competing at the Class 4A state championships last season, the 16-year-old Golding produced best times in both the 100-yard butterfly (54.4) and the 200-yard IM (2:00.34). She won the latter event for the second straight year and placed fourth in the butterfly challenge.
Golding was already in midseason form in the Cowboys’ recent opening trimeet against host South Broward and West Broward. She took first place in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard freestyle, and was also a member of the winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays as Cooper City defeated South Broward 116-60 and West Broward 117-59.
Golding has picked up where she left off this summer as she was successful in the ‘A’ Finals for the first time at the Speedo Junior National Championships at Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
Golding, who swims for the South Florida Aquatic Club, posted back-to-back best times in the 200-meter individual medley on the fifth and final day of that prestigious competition.
She qualified for six events at the competition and she was able to shave .50 off her previous best time in the 200-meter IM en route to a sixth-place finish against an impressive field in the final. It was her first ‘A’ (championship) final at Junior Nationals.
“Junior Nationals was a really good experience,” Golding said. “I had a lot of fun. This year is really big for me because junior year is when colleges are looking at you so it is pretty important.”
Golding, who turns 17 on Oct. 11, said her goal is to win another state title this year. She is looking forward to the opportunity. She has — Kathleen Golding, Cooper City High swimmer
narrowed down her college destinations to the University of Florida, Purdue and Stanford, although others are also in the mix.
“The pressure basically comes from myself because I really want to do well,” she
continued. “No one else is really putting pressure on me. I think I have really improved my freestyle stroke along with my back-tobreast turn in my IM.”
Cooper City High School swim coach Jill Ankney is looking for big things from Golding the rest of the season.
“She is one of my best swimmers on the team,” Ankney said. “Not only has she made it to states, but she has also won it twice. She is probably one of, if not the most valuable on the team. She has a great attitude and comes in with team sportsmanship and leadership. She is a pleasure to coach.”
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