Paschal swimmer Julia Anderson aiming higher

By Kevin Casas

Special to the Star-Telegram

It's fellow students like the chap in Julia Anderson's biology class who make swimming in the UIL state meet worth the effort.

"Yeah, he calls me Michelle Phelps," she said.

The name is an affectionate recognition of her prowess in the pool and a take off the name of Olympian Michael Phelps.

The funny thing, though, is Anderson has a better than average shot of walking into London's Olympic Stadium with Phelps as a member of the U.S. Team this summer.

Anderson is a senior at Fort Worth Paschal and first-year coach Marshall Campbell said he can't really put in to words what it's meant to have her on the team this season.

"Most of the kids in her position have chosen not to swim for their school teams," he said. "We're thrilled to have her and she makes everyone around her better."

And Anderson's position is this: She is the Class 5A state two-time defending champion in the 200-yard freestyle. She's qualified for that race again, on the verge of adding a state title to her résumé in the 100 freestyle, headed to Stanford and all this while training for the U.S. Swimming Trials this summer.

She set a UIL regional meet record of 1 minute, 48.08 seconds two weeks ago in the 200 to qualify for the state meet. Her nearest competitor, San Antonio Reagan's Sarah Gibson (1:49.71), is almost two seconds behind.

The odds-on favorite in Austin, Anderson said it's not a done deal.

"You still have to swim the race," she said. "Gibson and [Tyler Lee's] Meredith Oliver are good swimmers and if I make mistakes they are the kind of competitors that can catch you off guard."

For the record, Anderson's current UIL time converts to about three seconds slower nationally than U.S. Swimming's top-ranked 200-meter female, the University of Georgia's Allison Schmitt.

"I'm going to have to work on my turns," Anderson said. "I feel great about my chances this summer, but turning is something where I can get a lot better and I obviously need to improve to make the team."

When you consider last season's Conoco National Championships performance, it's clear Anderson is a real possibility for the Olympics. She finished 27th among the nation's elite in a time of 2:01.84; Schmitt won at 1:56.10.

"It's on my mind, I'm not going to act like it's not," Anderson said. "I'm confident in the plan that I have with my club coach and I refuse to act cocky about it, but I like my chances."

She was asked if she had envisioned herself as an Olympian while watching the Beijing Games as a 13-year-old.

"No way," she said. "I can barely remember watching them, but I remember watching Michael swim. Who wouldn't?"

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