As athletes gear up for London 2012, Jessica Rogers saw her largest and most competitive meet since she began her swimming career. Paralympian athletes gathered at the U of MN, in Minneapolis, April 6 to 9th.
Arrival day for warms ups, on Wednesday, was daunting. Not
only had Jessica been out of the water for 5 weeks in January due to a minor
surgery-so she also had not had sufficient time to really come into top form, but
also the pool at U of MN had such a different feel. Jessica reported she
couldn't get a grip on the water. Fortunately, with Coach Andy's guidance, she
had accommodated to the water by Thursday. In prelims she amazed even Coach Andy by pulling off her
best time ever in the 100 M breast stroke-cutting 3 seconds off her best time and
unseating the 14th world ranked Colombian swimmer. In the finals she still held
onto her new place in world rankings with a time almost as fast. Although she
couldn't catch the world 6th ranked veteran Taipai swimmer, she put forth a
good showing, coming in 2nd place, in a packed heat.
She swam the 50 fly and the 100 back on Friday. In these events, a year-long goal has been to make the Can-Am Nationals cut standards, and be able to hold her own, in a tough class of swimmers. While back stroke didn't go too well, (she placed outside the finals in 9th place and was a second off her best time), in 50 fly she again swam a best time, dropping 6 seconds off of her time and now is only 1 second off of the IPC world ranking cut off standards.
The entire meet was stressful because of constant DQ's which were being called on even the most top ranking swimmers. Jessica, however, was one of the few who made it through the entire meet with no DQ's.
The prelims, on Saturday, for the 200 IM did not end with a best time for Jessica, leaving us nail biting until the finals. At finals she pulled off her best time! Another swimmer had a DQ in this event. Jessica took 4 seconds off her best time from her swim 4 months ago with a result of 2nd place after, again, the swimmer from Taipai. Jessica held on to her 13th place world ranking for IM.
As this meet is a selection meet for two upcoming international competitions, the higher up in the rankings she could move, the better chance she would have of being selected for the Para- Pan games in Mexico in November, as part of the USA team. The team is limited to 25 athletes and Jessica earned the spot on the team She made it. Congratulations!
Jessica, we are so proud of you. Keep up the good work. Go FISH.
