Girls swimmer of the year

By Ted Allen

Published: May 3, 2008

Few could have predicted Jefferson Forest freshman Susanna White would break the Group AA state meet record in the 100 breaststroke at George Mason University’s Freedom Aquatic Center in Manassas.

But it was obvious from the moment White learned to swim that she was a natural in that stroke.

“I’m good at IMs (individual medleys), but my specialty is definitely the breaststroke,” White said. “The first time I got in the water, my dad was talking to an old (Lynchburg YMCA) coach and he said, ‘Yep, you’ve got a breaststroker there.’”

She surpassed her own expectations at the state meet, winning by more than two and a half seconds in 1:05.10.

“I didn’t have any expectations going in,” said White, The News & Advance All-Area girls swimmer of the year. “I hadn’t even broken 1:06 before state.”

She said swimming at GMU gave her an edge on her competition, most of whom were upperclassmen.

“I’d swum there when I was younger and I was excited it was going to be there again because it’s a very big, very fast pool,” White said. “The competition at states was very intense. Everything came together that race. It turned out great. When I got first and broke the state record, it was amazing, it was awesome.”

Since first emerging as a breaststroke specialist, White has developed and excelled in all four strokes, as she showed by placing fourth in the 200 IM at last month’s YMCA Spring National meet in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in a personal best time of 2:05.89 after finishing third in that event at the state meet.

It was her second trip to Y-Nationals, after first going as an eighth-grader.

“I’ve gotten a lot faster than last year,” White said. “Last year, I was just trying to get used to the atmosphere, this year I was there to place.”

She spends so much time in the water in season that she could be considered an amphibian.

“I probably spend as much time swimming as I do walking,” White said. “I love being in the water. I love swimming. (But) you swim so much, sometimes you feel like you get a little burned out. You feel like ‘Why am I doing this?’ But when you swim well and drop time, you realize it’s worth it.”

White is rarely satisfied with her performance in the pool, always striving to swim faster.

“I try very hard at practice,” she said. “It’s a sport where you can’t do half of it. You have to work very hard if you want to get where you want to be.”

In White’s case, that would be the 2012 or 2016 Olympics.