Heller continues competition swimming, attempting to make German National Team
May 16, 2013
Chris Brooks
907-474-6805
Junior swimmer Bente Heller (Hamburg, Germany/Psychology) captured the program's first-ever national championship back in March when she won the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA Division II Championship in Birmingham, Ala.
But a determined Heller is not satisfied with winning an NCAA title – she aspires for more in the pool, which is why she has continued her vigorous training since she returned from the NCAA meet. Head coach Scott Lemley has worked closely with Heller to help her prepare for what is to come during the summer months as she attempts the pinnacle of swimming in Germany.
The Hamburg native will compete in three big meets over the next month with the hopes of being named to the German National team and potentially qualify for this summer's World Championships. In order for her to make the squad, she must be ranked in the top-10 in any single event among German swimmers and must have swum such event in a long-course meter pool. To make the World Championships, she must rank in the top two of any event. Currently, Heller's times can only be converted from a short-course yard pool since that is the norm for collegiate swimming.
“It would mean the world to me,” Heller said. “It would be a big deal, it's the highest goal Germans. It would be great to make the German team and then still be here to swim for Scott season.”
This isn't Lemley's first go-round training into the summer months with a Nanook swimmer. Last year, Lemley worked with Heller's teammate, Margot Adams (Anchorage, Alaska/Political science), in her attempt to make the U.S. Olympic Trials. The two traveled to California and trained extensively for the butterfly trying to make the trials' cut.
“Depending on their level of ambition, it's important for me to mirror that,” Lemley said. “If they want to train up to conference, which is the natural ending point for most, that's easy to do. If they make it to nationals, that extends my focus another month. In the rare cases where they have concrete goals and a real purpose to train, I'll mirror that too. Bente's goal is the highest goal of an athlete I've ever coached.”
This weekend, Heller, along with Lemley, will travel down to Federal Way, Wash., and she will compete in four events at the Sockeye Spring Open, hosted by the Issaquah Swim Team, at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
“I'm training for the 100 backstroke right now and we do a lot of 125-yard sprints to prepare for the meter pool,” Heller said. “Aside from that we haven't changed much my training because I'm in shape.”
Heller is no stranger to this venue and she has produced much success when the Nanooks have raced there for the annual Husky Invitational. This past December, she turned in a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle with a varsity-record time and took top-10 in two other solo races while being a part of the sixth-place 800 free relay and three other top-15 relay tandems.
“It's a pool we know is fast, not just fast by reputation,” Lemley said. “She's swum a lot of her best times there. There's a certain level of confidence knowing that it's a world-class facility.”
She will compete in the 50 and 200 frees on Saturday and will be entered in the 100 free and 100 back on Sunday.
Following her trip to Federal Way, Heller will return home to Hamburg, Germany, and continue training for her other two meets, both of which will be held in her home country. On May 31 and June 1, she will compete in the North German Championships in Hanover and will then head to Berlin for the German Championships from June 12-16.
“It's every athlete's dream to go as far as they can with the time they have,” Lemley said. “For most European swimmers, unless they swim in college in the United States or swim for their national team, their career is done. Bente is somewhat unique because she fully realizes that this is a unique opportunity and she's taking full advantage of it.”
Should everything align and it be that Bente is one of the top two in a single event following the German Championships, her summer competition will continue into late July, early August, as she would then travel to Barcelona, Spain, for the 15th FINA World Championships, held July 28 – August 4.
For more information, contact Chris Brooks, Media Relations Assistant, at cpbrooks@alaska.edu.