Athlete of the Week: Olivia Clark

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Olivia Clark led the swim team to a 14th place finish at the state meet in Marshalltown  on Nov. 5 with seventh place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle and as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Clark is a long time swimmer who has been in the sport since she was in second grade. She started out by thinking her mom placed her in lessons, but it turned out to be an actual club team “Blast.” While swimming for them, she started to really enjoy the time in the pool and how it was really structured, as well as giving her something to do.

How is the high school program different from club?

“Well, for club, a lot of people don’t actually go to the out of town meets, like there are a few that are in town that everyone attends for the most part. Not everyone makes it to the meets as with high school swim, where everyone is at every single meet. It’s more of a choice in club like if you want to go to practice, but in high school, it’s like you should attend.”

What events did you swim while in state? 

“I swam the 100 and the 50 free, but they were not my favorites. I actually like the 200 Individual Medley relay I swam in last year, but this year we kind of needed more people for the sprint freestyle relays, so that’s what I swam.”

How did you do at State? 

“I dropped in both of my events, but I was not really happy with it place wise with what I got because I was seated fourth in the 100 free, but I ended up getting seventh, and I was seated eighth in the 50 free and got seventh in that too.”

What are you going to miss about the team when you graduate next year?

“The high school is so much more of a team than club, like you’re going there to win like for duals, one team vs. another team vs. yourself. That’s something I’m going to miss a lot, like talking to the girls like during meets and stuff.”

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