Sports

Names in the News: New Rochelle Teen in Olympic Trials

Emily Escobedo will vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swim team.

On Friday, a New Rochelle 16-year-old will know whether she will be going to the Olympics in London in July.

Emily Escobedo is in Omaha, NE, now for the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in the 200 meter breaststroke.

However, Escobedo isn't holding her breath about her chances. She's seeded 110th.

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"This year, the chances are very slim," she said about being one of two athletes chosen for the Olympics, "because I'm probably one of the youngest there.

"And there will be past Olympians returning to compete," Escobedo said.

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"This year, it is for the fun and experience of it," she said. She will be a senior next year at Maria Regina High School in Hartsdale.

Escobedo's coach, Christina Krautz of the , agreed with her.

"She's so young," Krautz said, "and this will be her first time there. Hopefully, in four years, she can go again and compete."

Escobedo won the chance to go to the trials by beating the qualification cut time of 2:35:99 by a few milliseconds.

She has been working for a while leading up this this time in her life.

"I swim every day," Escobedo said, "sometimes twice a day, all year round. And you compete in meets and hope for the best."

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Krautz said Escobedo does practices a lot.

"She gets in, like, 14,000 yards a day when in the heart of training," she said. "Someone at her level will have double practices."

Escobedo also does what Krautz calls dry land training, including weight training.

All of this was, until the school year ended, on top of class work and being a teenager.

Her mother, Ginny Escobedo, said Emily Escobedo gave up a lot of what most young people do to train for the sport.

"Her goal was to make the cut time, and she did," Ginny Escobedo said. "I hope that her dedication will continue and then when she finds the right college, they can take her to the next level and become a qualifier."

Krautz and Emily Escobedo's father are accompanying her at the trials.

"I'm not going," Ginny Escobedo said. "I am too nervous to be there."

And does Emily Escobedo have any advice to other young athletes who may aspire to competing in the Olympics?

"It's definitely something to work for," she said. "You definitely have to want it. Just follow your dreams."

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