Former Corona swimmer Adam Small participated in the finals of this year’s Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb., finishing seventh in the nation in the 50-meter freestyle.Many remember Small as an all-star of the Corona swim team from 2004 to 2007. He has since gone on to swim at the University of Arizona for the past four years.
Small broke the school record at UofA in the 50 free, and is now a 12-time All-American athlete, competing at the highest national and international levels.
“The goals I had set for the last couple of years have been to merely rank as high I as possibly can in the country as well as the world,” Small said.
“I took every year one at a time and used the previous year as a stepping stone to improve.”
This year at Olympic trials, Small did well at preliminaries, making the final heat. But he says the pressure hit hard on the day of finals.
“Swimming in the final at the Olympic trials was truthfully one of the most nerve-racking experiences of my life,” he said.
“Knowing that the past 4 years were coming down to a 22-second race, it was hard to completely wrap my mind around that and just relax.”
Even yet, Small finished seventh in the nation with a time of 22.38, a fantastic achievement.
Small sees this as another step toward a long future in swimming. His goals are now set on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“I learned a lot about myself and now know how to handle myself and what to expect when put in this extremely high-pressured situation,” he said.
“I will be fully prepared in all aspects for the 2016 trials and know it will be a much different story for me in 2016.”
