Local Olympic hopefuls to share pool with international stars in Va. Beach
Local Olympic hopefuls this week are competing alongside three swimmers who have established themselves on the international level — including two Olympic gold medalists — at the TIDE Swimming Spring Showcase Classic in Virginia Beach.
American Jack Conger, Singapore’s Joseph Schooling and Egypt’s Farida Osman will all compete at the Classic, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Princess Anne Family YMCA. The meet will stream live on TIDE Swimming’s YouTube channel.
Conger was an Olympic gold medalist in the 800-meter freestyle relay in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Games and holds the American record in the 200-yard butterfly.
Schooling beat Michael Phelps to win the 100-meter butterfly in Rio, becoming Singapore’s first Olympic gold medalist. Osman, a two-time Olympian, is an All-Africa Games gold medalist and Egyptian national champion and record holder.
Three local standouts — First Colonial High’s Samantha Tadder, Norfolk Academy’s Kayla Wilson and Kellam graduate Nikki Venema — are also competing and are preparing for the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
“They definitely have loads of experience and talent, and their hard work shows up in their racing,” Venema said of the three Olympians. “Just being able to see their strokes, see how they take a race out, how they finish a race, it’s just going to be a large learning opportunity for me and everyone who is able to swim there and watch.”
Tadder said sharing the pool with elite competition is good preparation for the U.S. trials.
“It’s useful because that’s what Olympic Trials is going to be: It’s going to be racing against all those kinds of people,” said Tadder, who helped lead First Colonial to a second consecutive VHSL Class 5 state team title in February and will head to Stanford in the fall.
Venema, now a sophomore at Princeton, lost her 2020 winter collegiate season due to COVID, and having the opportunity to swim against high-level competition has been crucial.
“To have the same level of competition at a meet at home is just amazing,” she said. “I’m super excited to have the opportunity to
do so.”
Both athletes are looking forward to taking the next big step in their swimming careers as they vie for spots on the Olympic team.
“The thought of it is just amazing,” Venema said. “It’s a dream everyone has at some point in time, and … it seems like a goal that’s more attainable now.
“I’m sure everyone kind of has the same answer. The dream to swim with amazing people, represent the country you love, it’s just a very exciting thing.”