Swimming faster and faster

Hailey Uhrig's schedule is tight.

Most mornings start at 4:40 a.m., long before the sun peeks above the eastern horizon. Practice begins at 5:30 a.m., and is divided between three days of weight lifting and two in-pool mornings. After a full day of classes at the Green River High School, a second practice starts at 3:30 p.m., and ends at at 5:45 p.m. After dinner and homework, she goes to bed by 9:30 p.m., to do it all over the next day.

Hailey's dedication to competitive swimming has paid incredible dividends. She holds school records in two age groups and qualified for the state swim meet as part of the Lady Wolves swim team. However, her biggest accomplishment is being the first swimmer from Green River to qualify for the USA Swimming Winter Junior Championships in 20 years.

Despite that success, she's not satisfied. She wants to swim at the Olympic trials.

"This has been my goal for a really long time," Hailey said.

To make the cut, Hailey will need to shave 2.5 seconds from her fastest time in the 100 breaststroke. Randy Walker, Hailey's coach for the Sweetwater Aquatics Team, a USA Swimming club consisting of members from throughout Sweetwater County, said Hailey has a rare talent and a hard worker in the pool.

"She has a can-do attitude," Walker said. "She's a student of the breaststroke, that's what's needed to make the Olympic trials."

Hailey's first shot at an Olympic qualifying time will be at the junior championships, which take place in Federal Way, Wash., Dec. 11-14. Green River has had a number of impressive swimmers over the years, but no one since Peggy Stoner has qualified for junior championships.

"It's crazy hard to do," Walker said.

He said Hailey will have a few more chances after the championships, but the trials are less than a year away. Hailey has a counter on her phone displaying the number of days until the Olympic trials -- 233 days as of this week's publication date.

Hailey's determination has helped other swimmers grow, according to head high school girls swim coach Colleen Seiloff.

"When you have good athletes like Hailey on the team, it pushes everyone to be better," she said.

Seiloff said Hailey's personality and work ethic have also been beneficial to the team, saying she has had fun coaching Hailey. Walker said her work ethic has lead her to adopt twice a day workouts outside of the high school swim season and leads her to race against the boys, something Walker says she isn't afraid to do. To help Hailey achieve her goal, Walker said he's enlisted the help of Tom Johnson, a former University of Wyoming head swimming coach, and Gregg Troy, an Olympic swimming coach. Along with himself, Seiloff, Hailey and her parents, Walker says it is a team effort to help her succeed.

Hailey has only competed for the last six and a half years. Her mother, Andrea, is a lifeguard at the Green River Recreation Center, where Hailey teaches child swim classes. However, neither of Hailey's parents were competitive swimmers.

"I'm very proud of Hailey's accomplishments," Andrea said. "She's worked very hard."