Qualifying for the Olympic Trials is something Tevyn Waddell has been working toward for years.
Sunday, the Mitchell Aquatic Club swimmer did exactly that.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Waddell, a junior at Mitchell High School. "Even thinking back to (the trial race), I can't believe that I did it. When I was younger, I went to the Olympic Trials (to watch) swimming in 2008, and since then, I knew that's what I wanted to do."
Waddell qualified for the Olympic Trials by recording a time of 1 minute, 2.63 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke -- a new South Dakota state record, eclipsing the previous mark of 1:03.68 set in 2009 -- at the USA Swimming Junior National Championship Meet over the weekend in Federal Way, Wash.
To qualify, Waddell needed to complete the Olympic length time trial in at least 1:03.39, which she bested by nearly .8 seconds.
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"She really went after it," MAC head coach Kyle Margheim said. "She gets really focused, and has that drive to keep improving. That shows when we go to big meets. She always wants to be the best, and she always goes out and gives her best effort."
Waddell joins Katie (Budahl) Price as the only MAC swimmers to qualify for the Olympic Trials. However, Waddell is the first to accomplish the feat while still swimming with MAC.
Despite Waddell having a plethora of state records to her name, she insists that she isn't focused on the records, but rather improving.
"I just go into the meet thinking, 'I just want to swim,' " Waddell said. "Sometimes, I don't even know that I break the state records until I read the paper."
Before Sunday, Waddell's personal best in the 100 backstroke was 1:04.59. Margheim said he and Waddell had been putting a ton of effort into helping her trim her time down.
"Right now, we're spending a lot of time working on her underwater work," he said. "She has a proficient stroke, and we keep fine-tuning it technique wise. We always look at what else we could be doing. I never want to say 'Well, we've done it this way so let's keep doing it like this.' So we look for new things to improve on, and well, she keeps improving."
At the meet, Waddell finished 15th in the 100 butterfly and 20th in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. She also placed 41st in the 100 freestyle. Waddell broke one of her own state records at the USA Swimming Junior National Championship, as she swam a 1:58.61 in the 200 backstroke.
"Overall, I thought her weekend was really good," Margheim said. "Last year, the highest place she got was 88th. For her to finish the way she did is a huge improvement from last year. Getting experience racing at that level is huge. I'm just excited to see what she can do."
