WORLD-CLASS
Aurnou-rhees adding to swimming legacy at St. Charles
Spencer Aurnou-rhees has come a long way from learning how to swim in a pond behind his family’s home. The Bexley resident lived in Marysville at the time, and learning to swim was a matter of safety more than fun.
“We had a big backyard with a pond in it,” he said. “My mom didn’t want us to drown. We got swim lessons and our instructor told me and my sister that we were pretty good and we should join a swim team. We’ve been going since then.”
A senior at St. Charles, Aurnou-rhees already has had an outstanding career that includes:
• Competing in the 200-meter individual medley in the U.S. Olympic Trials in June in Omaha, Nebraska. His time of 2 minutes, 2.43 seconds was a personal best.
• Being a member of the U.S. National Junior team at the FINA Swimming World Cup in Berlin and Budapest, Hungary, from Sept. 28-Oct. 10.
• Holding St. Charles program records in the 100-yard freestyle (44.77), 200 free (1:37.75), 500 free (4:33.68) and 200 IM (1:46.85). He was a member of the program-record 400 free relay (3:04.0) with senior Ben Stevenson and 2021 graduates Chase Bateman and Lukas Rakowsky.
• Reaching the podium four times in individual events at the Division I state meet, including a runner-up finish in the 100 free (44.92) and finishing third in the 200 free (1:39.18) last season.
• Swimming the fastest 200-yard individual medley time in Ohio and third-fastest time in the country at the Northeast Classic on Saturday (1:46.85), breaking his own school record of 1:49.67
St. Charles coach Kyle Goodrich remembers his first meeting with Aurnou-rhees, who was 6 years old at the time and was with his sister, Jordan, as she signed up for Goodrich’s club swimming program at Ohio State. “He’s a rare talent at the high school level, just based on his accomplishments . ... To be at this level is unprecedented. The effort that he puts in and his determination and confidence, those things set him apart.”
Kyle Goodrich
St. Charles swimming coach
St. Charles senior Spencer Aurnou-rhees competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials and is a member of the U.S. national junior team.
“Spencer was sitting off to the side playing with a Game Boy or whatever it was,” Goodrich said. “He wasn’t really paying much attention to us. Then he joined (the club team) a couple years later. It seems like I’ve known him forever.
“He’s a rare talent at the high school level, just based on his accomplishments. We never have had a swimmer qualify for the Olympic Trials while still going to St. Charles. To be at this level is unprecedented. The effort that he puts in and his determination and confidence, those things set him apart.”
Aurnou-rhees said he began swimming because of Jordan, a 2020 graduate of Columbus School for Girls who competes at Tennessee.
“In the beginning, Jordan was kind of the swimmer, and I was there to watch her since I was younger,” he said. “There were definitely a lot of meets that I just went to watch her, and then I followed in her footsteps.
“The long hours are difficult because I spend a lot of time in the pool and doing extra workouts. There’s a lot of travel time as well. It’s hard to balance all the commitments with swimming and school. It’s like school, swim, sleep, repeat.”
The difference between high school and club swimming is beyond measuring the races in yards and meters. The pools are normally twice the length as the 25 yards in high school. That means instead of four times down and back in the 200 IM, a swimmer does that only twice.
“It’s a lot tougher with not as many turns, and it gives you a chance to go underwater with less resistance,” Aurnourhees said. “It feels faster in yards because of the flipping you’re doing. (Club competition) feels like it’s more than two laps.
“It is fun to relearn (going from yards to meters) every season, and I like to see
if I’ve grown or have gotten stronger from last year. It’s fun getting used to the difference in times, as well.”
Aurnou-rhees will follow his sister in competing at a Division I college, having signed with Texas.
“I’ve always been competitive with my sister growing up,” he said. “Competitiveness is a big part of me. It’s great trying to be the best each year.
“It’s gone by way too fast (at St. Charles), especially with COVID. It seems like my high school career is in fast-forward. It’s been faster than I would have ever thought.”
Dispatch staff writer Bailey Johnson contributed to this report.