Amy Migawa is swimming for a place in history this weekend.
The Driscoll senior’s goal is a record-setting performance as she defends her 500-yard freestyle championship at the state swimming and diving finals, which begin Friday at New Trier.
But she’s also a realist.
“The state record is an obvious goal,” she said. “It’s my senior year and it would be nice. But if I don’t get it, that’s fine.”
In 1996, the Driscoll swimmer won the 500 freestyle and the 200 individual medley titles. She hopes to add another pair this weekend.
Migawa, who last week committed to swim for defending NCAA champion Southern California, is unquestionably the favorite to repeat in the 500. Her sectional time last Saturday (4 minutes 54.67 seconds) was more than 10 seconds better than anyone else’s.
She also had the top 200 freestyle time, an event she opted to swim instead of the individual medley. Migawa’s 1:51.29 is a little more than one-half second faster than Normal’s Molly Vetter.
Her longtime coach, Celeste Laub-Norman, thinks there’s also the opportunity to beat the record of 4:48.00 set by Glenbard West’s Bridgett Bowman in 1986.
“She would like to try for the (500 freestyle) record, but she’s really going to have to push herself,” Laub-Norman said. “She’s in a situation where she has to try to beat the clock . . . She really doesn’t have somebody to help (challenge) her. It’s always good to have other competitors. Those people help each other get the best times . . . She has to set her own pace and go from there.
“In the 200, she’ll have a couple people that will help her achieve, hopefully, her best time. She’ll have to go out there and race. It’s not something she’s going to walk away with.”
Migawa’s trek to state has been a complicated one.
While she represents Driscoll, Migawa competes alone. The school has neither a team nor a pool. Instead she commutes from her home in Bensenville to Chicago–usually twice daily during the week–to train with Laub-Norman, her Chicago Park District Swim Club coach, and Laub-Norman’s husband, Rick.
Migawa’s early-morning regimen includes training at Portage Park on the city’s Northwest Side. After a full day of school in Addison, it’s back to Chicago for another two hours of drills at St. Patrick High School, where Rick Norman is a teacher and guidance counselor.
Migawa swam 5,000 yards during a practice session earlier this week, steadily gliding through lap after lap. She worked hard with few breaks, using a variety of strokes to aid her routines.
Laub-Norman paced up and down the deck as she followed Migawa’s progression and offered suggestions and encouragement. At one point, the coach rattled off sectional times of competitors in her two events.
Migawa’s mother, Arlene, sat nearby working on a cross-stitch project. She has clocked thousands of miles chauffeuring her daughter to practices over the years and has never missed any of the “hundreds” of her daughter’s meets.
That streak will end next fall, when Amy goes to USC.
“We’re excited,” Arlene Migawa said. “She’s proud to be doing this for her school, but it’s also a little sad, because she’ll be going so far away.”
