Pine Crest's Ciesla, Other S. Florida Athletes Have Shot At Rio Olympics

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For some swimmers, qualifying for the June 26-July 3 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Neb. is a huge accomplishment.

Others, including Pine Crest junior Marta Ciesla, have a real shot at making the Aug. 5-21 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Ciesla and a handful of South Florida high school athletes will share the same deck with the sport's Big Four: Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin for eight days to determine the U.S. men and women's Olympic teams.

The top two in each final will qualify for Rio, plus up to six finishers in the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events for relays. The top six in each event also make the senior national team.

Nearly 2,000 swimmers have qualified for the Trials with the most coming from California, Pacific Coast, North Carolina and Florida. The event at CenturyLing Center is a sell out with more than 200,000 tickets sold.

Ciesla, 17, will compete in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events. The three-time high school state and junior national champion has already represented the U.S. at the international level and broke Franklin's 18-and-under and course records in 25.07 to win a gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2015 Junior National Championships.

She is ranked in the Top 12 in the U.S. in the 50 and Top 40 in the world.

"I am super excited, I don't think I am nervous," Ciesla said. "I am more ready to prove myself. Right now I feel I can do great things. I am ready to rock it."

Among the sprint field are Olympians Natalie Coughlin, 32, and Dana Vollmer, 28, along with Madison Kennedy, Simone Manuel and Ivy Martin.

"The field, oh my God, it is crazy," Ciesla said. "The times that Dana Vollmer and Natalie Coughlin are doing at their ages are pretty motivating for me. I hope at that age I will be that awesome."

Ciesla, who only started swimming five years ago, has national and international meet experience.

"I raced all these girls before," Ciesla said. "We all know each other and it's going to be a great atmosphere. I am just as good as they are. We do the same sets, there's nothing really different. Everyone puts their pants on the same way."

Ciesla is among 42 women qualifiers from Florida and joins other South Florida high school swimmers Jessica Nava, 16, of Westminster Academy, Kathleen Golding of Cooper City, Kyla Valls, 17, of Ransom Everglades and University of Florida-bound Kelli Fertel, 18, and Niki Urquidi, 18, of Gulliver Prep.

"Obviously, everybody has a few nerves before the Trials," Ciesla said. "I try not to make these competitions any bigger than they are and look at it as another meet. My goals are getting into finals. I don't have any place goals. I want to go under my best time which means the 24s. I would be 100 percent really happy making a relay."

"I am in the best shape of my life," Ciesla said. "My coach always says control what you can control and focus on what you can. I can't freak out about what will or won't happen. I am going to do my best and really be confident in my training and the work I put in. Realizing the more I can do really gets me excited."

Golding is the only high school swimmer from a South Florida public high school to qualify. At 15, she is also one of the youngest.

Training alongside Olympians and national-caliber swimmers at South Florida Aquatic Club in Pembroke Pines including four-time Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson, a Flanagan alum, has helped her improve. Golding qualified in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys, two of the sport's toughest events.

"It definitely helps to watch the older girls and learn from them," she said. "They are really good."

Golding is realistic about her expectations for the Trials.

"I am going there for the experience," Golding said. "I want to see what it's like and I want to see how I stack up. I have been really focused lately, making sure everything I do in practice counts towards trials. My coach and I are pretty confident going in. I have been swimming pretty well."

Golding would love to advance to the semifinals in one of her events. Despite her age, she is experienced when it comes to competing at big meets.

"I have been to meets with Missy and Michael," Golding said. "There's going to be a lot of fast people. I have been training really hard and doing a lot more dryland work. I think I should swim best times. I know after Trials I am going to be really motivated because it's such a motivating meet. It makes me want to go to the Olympics even more and really enforces how much I want to be better."

Gulliver Prep junior Miguel Cancel, 16, is the only high school boy swimmer from Dade and Broward to qualify for the trials. He will swim the 400-meter individual medley.

Cancel will be joined by Gulliver Swim Club teammates Kelly Fertel and Niki Urquidi, headed to University of Florida along with former Gulliver head coach Jeff Poppell and Nick Carter.

Cancel has competed for Puerto Rico in international competition and been exposed to good competition, but nothing like the Trials.

"The butterflies are always going to be there no matter how many big meets you swim," Cancel said. "I am extremely excited. I am going to have fun and gain a lot of experience so hopefully next time I qualify I will be ready."

Cancel was a 2A state runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle this past season as a sophomore. At the 2015 Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Championships in Barbados, he won six individual gold medals and three relay golds in the 15-17 age group.

"I didn't think I would be this good," Cancel said. "My coaches helped me so much. I have developed a lot. I have gotten stronger and taller. I had a few growth spurts. This is the first time I have been at a big competition like this. I am going to try to take this like any other meet even though I know it's completely different."

Cancel said he is a little surprised more local high school boys swimmers did not qualify.

"The guys qualifying times are really hard to make," Cancel said. "Very few of us were lucky enough to qualify. I feel I am in the best shape of my life. I have done the training. When I feel the pain in my race I am just going to think about all the yardage I did and bring it home."

SOUTH FLORIDA CURRENT/FORMER HIGH SCHOOL U.S. SWIMMING TRIALS QUALIFIERS

Miguel Cancel, Gulliver Prep; Marta Ciesla, Pine Crest; Lauren Driscoll, American Heritage Plantation; Anya Egorova, Gulliver Prep; Kelli Fertel, Gulliver Prep; Alex Evdokimov, Taravella; Casey Francis, Pine Crest; Kathleen Golding, Cooper City; Brandon Goldman, St. Thomas Aquinas; Emily Kopas, University School; Austin Manganiello, Miami Palmetto; Blake Manganiello, Miami Palmetto; Lindsey McKnight, Plantation American Heritage; Jessica Nava, Westminster Academy; Carlos Omana, Belen Jesuit; Michael Saco, Miami Palmetto; Juan Sequera, Reagan; Clara Smiddy, South Florida HEAT; Sam Smiddy, South Florida HEAT; Niki Urquidi, Gulliver Prep; Kyla Valls, Ransom Everglades.

BAHAMAS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ronald Reagan High alum Isabella Paez, 20, of Duke University will try and qualify for the Venezuelan Olympic team at the June 23-26 RBC Bahamas National Swimming Championships at the Betty Kelly Kenning National Swim Complex in Nassau. Paez is a high school district, region and state champion in the 100 butterfly.

U.S. OLYMPIC DIVING TRIALS
Westminster Academy sophomore Johanna Holloway and her partner Mya Kraeger were fifth on synchronized platform with 500.88 points after the first two rounds and advanced into Wednesday night's final.

Holloway, 15, who trains with Fort Lauderdale Diving Team, was 18th on the individual platform event with 499.40. Holloway balked twice on her handstand in the fourth round, dropping from sixth to 14th. Holloway told her coach she "messed up."

"Rough day at the Olympic Trials for Johanna," her coach Dave Burgering wrote on the team's Facebook page. "I'm still very proud of her and she proved she belongs here." Holloway was one of the youngest divers in the field.