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Fairfield grad earns spot in Olympic Trials

RedHawks junior cuts times in pool by building up her speed in races.

Contributed photo Bekka Westrick, Miami swimming.

Contributed photo Bekka Westrick.

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Updated 11:01 AM Friday, August 12, 2011

By Pete Conrad

Staff Writer

OXFORD — Bekka Westrick is trying a new strategy as a junior on Miami University’s swim team, and it already has taken her to within one step of the 2012 Olympics in London.

The Fairfield High School graduate always has been an all-out, all-the-time competitor, which sometimes worked against her in the 100-meter butterfly.

Now Westrick is letting her speed build as the race progresses. She did it at the Speedo Championship Sectional meet in Cleveland last month, and her time of 1 minute, 1.86 seconds earned her a spot in next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials.

“I had no idea I would make the cut,” she said.

“That was a goal of mine, but I didn’t think I’d get it that night. As I was swimming, I came to the realization I was close to the girls who would make the cut. It was the hardest part of the race, but you push through it.”

The trials will be held June 25 to July 2, 2012, in Omaha, Neb.

“I’m pretty excited,” Westrick said. “I can’t wait to go and compete there. ... My whole family is already starting to get tickets.”

Dave Jennings, who has coached Miami to 15 Mid-American Conference titles in his 29 seasons, remembered when Westrick first swam for the RedHawks.

“She went as hard as she could,” he said, adding that she sometimes faded in longer events.

“We tried to get her a little more relaxed at the start of the race. The light bulb really went on at the MAC Championships this past winter.”

Westrick earned second-team All-MAC honors after finishing fourth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 fly.

“My new strategy is to take it out slower, not too slow, but building the speed every 25 meters so I’m not dying at the end,” she said.

Jennings said he thinks Westrick also has a good shot at making the Olympic Trials in the 50 free after having missed the cut by only four one-hundredths of a second.

“Her biggest strengths are that she has great quickness, loves to compete and gives an honest effort on a day-to-day basis,” Jennings said.

“Also, her height (5-foot-10), her long stroke and a good technique. She has a lot of the tools she needs to compete at a high level.”

Westrick, the daughter of Greg and Kim Westrick, was team MVP in all four of her years at Fairfield and also was a standout for the Fairfield (YMCA) Flippers, now the Great Miami Valley YMCA Flippers. Westrick swam in the USA National Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., last week. She placed 141st (out of 184) in the 100 fly and was 93rd (out of 137) in the 50 free.

“I wanted to do a little better,” Westrick said. “But it was fun. I enjoyed it.

“Right now my goal is to get better during the season,” she said. “My goal is always to get faster and see where it gets me.”

Armed with her new swimming strategy, Westrick has nearly 11 months to prepare for the Olympic Trials and perhaps the gathering of the world’s top athletes that starts next July 27. “Oh yeah,” she said, “any swimmer dreams about being in the Olympics, competing against the best of the best.”

Contact this reporter  at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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