For Sarah Musselman, this weekend’s state swim meet in Austin won’t be anything out of the ordinary for the Legacy senior swimmer.
In fact, it might even be routine by now. When Musselman competes at the state meet this weekend in the one-meter diving, it’ll be for the fourth time in her career. Every year she’s been at Legacy, she’s gone to the state meet.“She dives high school, she dives club -- this is five to six days a week of practicing,” Legacy and Lake Ridge swim coach Tony Tullbane said. “It’s pretty impressive. It’s an incredible amount of work ethic.”There are six athletes in total from the Legacy and Lake Ridge teams that advanced to state. Joining Musselman are Madison Yelle and Sam Spoonermore from Legacy. Jonas Grissel, Parker Sheppard and Kirsten Brown have advanced from Lake Ridge.Tullbane said he’s proud of Musselman and all his swimmers that advanced. He wasn’t surprised with the success at all.“I knew we had a pretty good chance,” he said. “The bottom line is it’s the race that they have to win. In swimming it comes down to district and regionals when it’s time to perform. They did exceptionally well.”Tullbane said the state meet is on a whole different level when compared to the district and regional meets. That’s why he’s glad his swimmers will have Musselman to rely on for experience and leadership.“When you get on the big stage, it’s nice to have people that have been there before,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be a good experience. They’re ready for it.”Tullbane is hoping that Musselman will earn a medal this time around. He said she’s always finished in the top eight but just out of medal range.It won’t be easy. Tullbane said the state meet can be one of the most intimidating events for any swimmer.“For the most part, it’s the venue. It’s the fact that you’re swimming against the top 16 swimmers in the state,” he said. “The difference between first and eighth is usually a tenth of a second.“With that level of competition, there’s not a lot of room for error. Make a mistake and you’ll drop several places.”To help ease the pressure, Tullbane said he wants to make his swimmers as relaxed as possible. He said in swimming, if you aren’t focused it’s incredibly difficult to have a good meet.“We keep it very light, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “If you’re worried you will not have a good race,” he said. “They need to be relaxed about it. They have to be relaxed.”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
