FALL ALL-AREA: Suwannee's Raegan Conklin named LCR's Girls Swimmer of the Year

LIVE OAK — Back at the start of the year, Raegan Conklin thought her swimming career was over.

Years of driving back and forth from Wellborn to Gainesville for both club swimming and to compete at Eastside High had taken its toll on her right shoulder. With tendinitis in her rotator cuff, the goal of a college scholarship was gone and so too was Conklin’s time in the pool in high school.

Or so she thought.

“I was out of it for like four or five months and I really missed it,” Conklin said. “I felt like if I didn’t go back for my senior year, I would regret it and I would always wish that I would have.”

So Conklin instead transferred to Suwannee for her senior year and transitioned from the butterfly and the 500 freestyle to sprint events, qualifying for the Region 1-2A meet in both the 50 and 100 free to earn Lake City Reporter Girls Swimmer of the Year honors.

Those results and accolades didn’t come easy, though.

With the pain in her right shoulder, which Suwannee coach Doug Morgan said was a result of “putting miles and miles” on it, Conklin and Morgan had to find the right events for her. That meant the distance events that she had long performed in and her cherished 100 butterfly were out.

“I would have loved to swim her in the fly, but as the season went on, she was just like, ‘It hurts, it hurts,’” Morgan said. “It was more ice packs and less practice.”

So they focused on what could she do: they settled on the 50 freestyle where she wouldn’t have to swim but less than 30 seconds. They also went with the 100 freestyle as well.

“It was kind of challenging at first because I love butterfly with all my heart,” Conklin said. “That’s kind of weird to say as a swimmer because most people say it’s the worst. But I just love doing it.”

That transition meant for Conklin changing her mindset. No longer could she worry about pacing herself for the five to six minutes that the 500 would take. Now she had to go all out as soon as she hit the water.

For Suwannee, Morgan said moving Conklin to those events gave the team two top-notch sprinters along with Ainsleigh Pack, last year’s Girls Swimmer of the Year. It also meant Suwannee focused on freestyle relay teams more than the medley relays although Conklin helped the SHS 200 medley relay finish seventh at districts as well as placing 10th at regionals in the 200 freestyle relay.

Conklin’s presence also provided Suwannee with an added edge to it, Morgan said, as his new swimmer brought intensity with her to practice that caused other swimmers to up their level to meet her no-nonsense serious nature.

“You work with what you get and what can we do for the best of the team,” he said.

But within that, there also was working with what’s best for the individuals, too.

With Conklin and her shoulder that meant finding the balance between practice and resting and icing her arm. Especially as the season wore on and the miles continued to mount on that damaged shoulder.

“There were days where she’d be crying,” Morgan said. “You could see the tears in her eyes and it was like, ‘Get out. It’s not worth tearing up your arm.’

“But she wanted to finish the season. It was rough at the end. Forty-five minutes in a two-hour practice, she was done. She just couldn’t do it anymore. But she wanted to swim her senior year and not laid out. If she’d had surgery, she would have been laid out.”

The shoulder wasn’t the only thing hurting those days either. Conklin, as a competitor, hated coming out of the pool to ice her shoulder before she could resume practice.

“I wanted to practice and be the best I could be, but at times I just couldn’t,” she said.

Still, when the season and her career were on the line, Conklin gutted through the pain and everything else.

At the District 3-2A meet in Gainesville, she finished runner-up in the 50 freestyle in a time of 27.68 seconds. She added a third-place finish in the 100 in 59.90, qualifying for regionals in both.

Back at the pool where she had devoted so much time over the past nine years, Conklin said she knew she was going to have a good meet, with blocks and a pool that just feel right to her. But Morgan said everybody was “shocked” with those times and those finishes.

“She was an unknown,” he said. “We knew how fast she was but when you step up to the big game, it’s all or nothing, it’s either you swim in the top 8 or whatever or you don’t make it to the next round.

“Nobody had seen that. She had never been that high.”

Conklin added: “That was amazing. My turns were awesome. It was amazing because I didn’t think I was going to…I knew I was going to do good, but I never could have imagined that.”

That amazing finish also reinforced for Conklin that she made the right decision to swim one last season, even through all the pain and tears.

“I think it was (worth it),” she said. “I just love the sport.”

 

ALL-AREA TEAM

Raegan Conklin

Suwannee, senior

The LCR’s Girls Swimmer of the Year was runner-up in the 50 freestyle at the District 3-2A meet at 27.68 seconds, and she then topped that time to finish 14th in Region 1-2A at 27.51 seconds. Also placed third in the 100 freestyle at districts (59.90) before finishing 13th at regionals (1:00.63) in addition to swimming on the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay team (7th at districts 2:19.83) and 200 freestyle relay team (10th at regionals at 1:54.00, 5th at districts at 1:54.14) that qualified for regionals.

Hannah Mantooth

Suwannee, junior

Qualified for regionals in the 200 IM, placing 16th in Region 1-2A (2:52.08) after finishing eighth in District 3-2A (3:00.41). Also swam on the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay team (7th at districts 2:19.83) and 200 freestyle relay team (10th at regionals at 1:54.00, 5th at districts at 1:54.14) that qualified for regionals.

Ainsleigh Pack

Suwannee, senior

Placed fourth in the 50 freestyle at the District 3-2A meet at 28.74 seconds and then finished 14th in Region 1-2A at 27.51 seconds. Also placed fifth in the 100 freestyle at districts (1:02.53) before finishing 14th at regionals (1:02.87) in addition to swimming on the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay team (7th at districts 2:19.83) and 200 freestyle relay team (10th at regionals at 1:54.00, 5th at districts at 1:54.14) that qualified for regionals.

Oliviah Schneider

Suwannee, sophomore

Placed fifth in the 200 IM at the District 3-2A meet (2:45.58) and then 15th in Region 1-2A (2:46.98). Also took sixth in the 100 breaststroke at districts (1:27.23) before placing 21st at regionals (1:27.08) in addition to swimming on the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay team (7th at districts 2:19.83) and 200 freestyle relay team (10th at regionals at 1:54.00, 5th at districts at 1:54.14) that qualified for regionals.

Casey Fair

Columbia, junior

Regional qualifier in the 100 butterfly, placing 19th in Region 1-3A (1:07.58) after finishing fourth in District 2-3A (1:08.33). Also placed fourth in the 200 IM at districts with an area-best time of 2:28.72 and was chosen as an alternate for regionals.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Doug Morgan, Suwannee

Led the Suwannee boys to a fourth-place finish and the girls a fifth-place finish at the District 3-2A meet. Fifteen of Morgan’s swimmers qualified for regionals in 13 events.