Fifth-grader Chloe Isleta swims to 7 first-place finishes at
Junior Olympics
Just four years ago, a then 6-year-old Chloe Isleta clung to the
sides of the pool at Rovella’s Athletic Club, unable to swim and
with a scared look in her eyes, no less.
Fifth-grader Chloe Isleta swims to 7 first-place finishes at Junior Olympics
Just four years ago, a then 6-year-old Chloe Isleta clung to the sides of the pool at Rovella’s Athletic Club, unable to swim and with a scared look in her eyes, no less.
“In my first meet,” Isleta recalls, “I didn’t do very good.”
She was attracted to the sport of competitive swimming after simply watching her sister Czsarina from the sidelines – “I saw my sister and I thought it was pretty fun,” Isleta said.
Now a fifth-grader at Gabilan Hills, she stayed afloat early on, almost purely by her dedication and her drive.
“I started to get mad,” she said. “I had to get first place for once in my life.
“I started to take it seriously, work on it and get faster.”
Without much of a clue as to what exactly he had on his hands, Rovella’s swim coach Dave Steele said Isleta embodied one undeniable trait that most athletes exude: Isleta was a hard worker.
“Chloe swims up to the competition,” Steele said. “She’s a racer. If there is a swimmer in the race who’s swimming fast, she’ll swim faster.”
And Isleta’s performance at the Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics in San Ramon two weeks ago certainly backs up that statement. Competing in seven different events – the maximum amount – Isleta took first place in every one of them and was awarded the high-point champion of the prestigious meet, the second largest meet in California.
“I added a little bit (of time) on some races,” Isleta said. “I was happy I was first, but my mom says that it’s better I take off my time. But I’m happy both ways.”
Isleta took first in the 50 free (26.84), the 50 back (31.16), the 100 free (58.80), the 100 back (1:06.76), the 100 IM (1:05.06), the 200 IM (2:21.35) and the 500 free (5:37.71).
And although she didn’t improve upon her time in every event, she did swim fast enough to qualify in every event to this weekend’s Far Western Championships. Considered the largest meet in California, Far Western’s is expected to welcome anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 swimmers from as many as 11 different states.
The massive meet, which is “the pinnacle” for Isleta’s 10-and-under age group, Steele said, will be held at the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center through Sunday.
“She’s in position to take out some all-time Pacific records that go back 50 to 60 years,” Steele said of Isleta, who finished second overall as a 9-year-old last year in the 10-and-under age group at Far Western’s. “She’s within striking distance of that in all seven races, most of them less than a second off.”
Isleta said her 26.84 in the 50 free, for instance, is just five-tenths of a second off the Pacific record of 26.34.
“In my 50 free, I almost got the record,” she said.
“But I’m thinking the races are going to be harder [at Far Western’s], so I’m going to work on my technique.”
Steele, who says Isleta is both thankful and teachable, feels her swim times could very easily be ranked top 10 nationally when the final tabulations are released, and maybe even top five.
Although she was ranked No. 1 in Pacific Swimming in all seven of her races entering the Junior Olympics, and could very well be ranked nationally when everything is said and done, Isleta’s competitive spirit always leaves the door open for improvement.
“The difficult part was to compete with other fast people,” Isleta said. “You really want to beat them …”
Said Steele, “She’s motivated by the competition.”
