U.S. Junior Team awaits Koehler
Springfield Catholic
defending state champion bound for Australia
For the Dayton Daily News
Thursday, December 11, 2003
He's a young kid at heart but a formidable competitor in the
pool.
"A young kid doesn't worry, he just goes out and does it," Springfield Catholic
senior John Kevin Koehler. "That's me. I don't question what's the best way and
I don't worry about it. I just do it."
Koehler's philosophy has propelled him to more success than the 17-year-old ever
dreamed of. The defending state champion in the 500-yard freestyle will compete
as a member of the USA Swimming 2003 Junior Team at the Queensland State
Championship in Australia in January. He has already clocked an Olympic trial
time in the 1,500-meter freestyle and he recently committed to Indiana
University for fall 2004.
"There are times it's still hard to believe all of this is happening," Koehler
said. "But I definitely put in the work and it's great to see what's coming out
of it."
If seeing is believing, the package Koehler received Friday made him a believer
as it was jam packed with his official Team USA wardrobe, from shorts to
T-shirts and sweatshirts to swim trunks.
"Making the team was really exciting but getting that package made it real," he
said.
It may, however, still seem like a dream when Koehler is poised on the starting
block just a few lanes down from 1500-meter freestyle world record holder Grant
Hackett.
"I'll be in the same heat in Australia, just a couple of lanes away," Koehler
said. "He's a minute faster than me, but I'll have the opportunity to race the
best in the world."
The hard work won't end when Koehler returns from Australia. He will dive
immediately into the high school season. He hopes to defend his state
championship title but doesn't take any win for granted.
"I'm definitely going to give it another try but that stuff doesn't come easy,"
Koehler said.
Koehler doesn't have a strategy, just desire.
"I'm always trying to go fast," he said. "Some swimmers have a strategy but
there's no strategy for me. I just do whatever it takes to get what I want."
Many local swimmers are planning to make a big splash as Koehler is just one of
several of the top swimmers in the state who return this season in the Miami
Valley.
•Beavercreek returns three state placers in seniors Andrew Bergren and Chris
Jelus and junior Jonathan Buchanan. The Beavers earned the top team finish among
local schools at the state meet last year at 11th.
•Centerville also returns three state swimmers in senior John Mullen, junior
Brandon Ervin and sophomore John Grubb. The Elks boys placed 19th.
•Chaminade-Julienne junior Patrick Mansfield, the first Eagles swimmer to
qualify to state in almost two decades, returns as do juniors Derick Roe,
Sidney, and David Waite, Valley View. Sophomore Justin Galbreath returns for the
Firebirds after qualifying to state in his first year at Fairmont.
Contact Debbie Juniewicz at 294-5877 or at
djunie@aol.com