Fort Worth swimmer makes World Junior meet

By Travis Detherage

wdetherage@star-telegram.com

Fort Worth Paschal senior swimmer Julia Anderson continues to enjoy an amazing summer.

A stellar performance at a recent national meet has earned her a spot on the U.S. team bound for South America.

Anderson will compete for America against other elite junior-age swimmers in the 2011 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, beginning Tuesday in Lima, Peru.

Anderson will compete in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.

"It's really cool," Anderson said. "I'm super excited to be representing the United States at the meet."

Anderson qualified for the World Championships by finishing as one of the top four performers in the ConocoPhillips National Championship held Aug. 2-6 in Palo Alto, Calif.

Her family is "really proud of me and they've been posting a lot of updates on Facebook telling people that I'm going to be participating in the [under 18] world championships." Anderson said.

This will be the first time Anderson will be competing internationally. The event features more than 600 swimmers from 64 countries.

Anderson also earned a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team for the 2011-12 season by recording a time of 2:01.4 in the finals of the 200 freestyle, which wasn't her best time but it was enough for her selection to the team.

This will be the second consecutive year that Anderson has been named to the elite squad.

"I've been working really hard to make the team and I'm super excited to be on it," Anderson said.

Anderson, two-time UIL state champion in the 200-yard freestyle, was born in Princeton, N.J., and moved to Fort Worth before her freshman year of high school.

She started swimming at age 10. Her mom was on the swimming team at Boston University, but Anderson got into swimming because of her dad.

"My mom was hesitant at first because swimming is such a big commitment, but my dad was very instrumental in getting me started," Anderson said.

Anderson is a member of the Fort Worth Area Swim Team along with TCU swimmer Josh Bagby, the Horned Frogs record-holder in the 100 freestyle.

"It's an honor to be on the same team with so many other great swimmers," Anderson said.

After competing in the world championships this summer, Anderson will have a big decision to make, and that is to decide on which college she would like to attend.

She's considering Stanford, Texas, Harvard, Yale, Texas A&M and California.

"I still don't know what college I'm going to go to," Anderson said. "They all have amazing swimming programs and I would love to be a part of any of those programs."

Travis Detherage, 817-390-7760

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