13 area freshmen poised to make plenty of waves

The biggest swim meet of her life is finally here, and Caitlyn Reynera can hardly believe it.

Reynera, a freshman at The Woodlands, had no idea what to expect when she made the varsity team. She had success swimming for her club team throughout middle school, but bigger varsity meets are something else altogether.

Reynera assumed the competition would be fast, but qualifying for the Class 6A state meet, which begins Friday at Austin, was not on her radar. Imagine her surprise when she recorded the state’s fastest regional championship time in the girls 100-yard breaststroke.

“It’s kind of like a dream come true,” said Reynera, the lone 6A participant whose qualifying time is under 1 minute, 3 seconds. “I never expected as a freshman to make it to state and be seeded so high.”

Youth is served

The state’s upperclassmen are about to find out that Reynera is not the only freshman they need to worry about.

Thirteen Houston-area freshmen qualified for the state championships in individual events. Nine are in Class 6A, which features a total of 14 automatic qualifications and 13 call-ups among freshmen statewide.

Three of those in 6A are from The Woodlands — Zoe Gawronska (500 freestyle), Tobin HickmanChow (boys 200 freestyle) and Reynera.

Cypress Woods’ Sydney Stanford is one of three area freshman to qualify in two individual events. She will swim the 100 freestyle and the 200 free in the 6A meet. The other two — Stratford’s Emma Stephenson and Kingwood Park’s Andrea Unwin — are in the 5A competition.

Hard work pays off

As Reynera’s seed time suggests, the freshmen do not have to be satisfied with just qualifying. In the last two seasons, freshmen have won seven state titles in individual events.

The Houston area had two last year in The Woodlands’ Lucie Nordmann and Ridge Point’s Kylie Powers. Both have qualified again as sophomores.

Older and more experienced swimmers have a competitive advantage, but Highlanders coach Kent Kirchner said there is no secret to the freshmen’s making waves on the state’s biggest stage.

“It’s nothing magic,” Kirchner said. “It’s just that hard work pays off. (Our three freshmen) have a great work ethic. When it boils down to it, the one who works the hardest is going to come out on top 99 percent of the time.”

Reynera said she has been anticipating her first preliminary heat at state since she qualified.

“I think it will be a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s exciting to be able to race these girls and see how fast they are.”