Move to Lyons rekindles Lauren Clark’s spark for swimming

Lyons junior Lauren Clark found more than a new home when her family moved from Kentucky.

She also discovered a new love of swimming.

Clark has been swimming competitively since age 5 and entered her first high school meet in seventh grade. She set a team record of 27.74 seconds in the 50-yard fly for the Lexington Dolphins at the Kentucky state meet when she was 12. She then went to the high school state meet as a freshman at Henry Clay in Lexington, Ky., where she swam the 100 fly and 200 medley relay.

Her family moved to Illinois in December 2013, and while she missed Lyons’ high school season, she joined Lyons Aquatics.

Lyons Aquatics head coach Casey Hnatiuk said Clark had a chance to meet Lions coach Kurt Johns and her future high school teammates. It also gave her a chance to boost her confidence.

Clark didn’t think she was going to continue to improve, Hnatiuk said, and wasn’t sure if she’d be able to swim in college. Clark told him her goal was to break a minute for the 100 fly.

At the Illinois Senior Championships on March 6, she clocked 59.5, two seconds faster than her lifetime best.

“It’s been great as a coach to see someone get that love of the sport back,” Hnatiuk said.

He said that her dream of swimming in college has also been revived and she’s continued to drop time.

Clark discovered that swimming at Lyons was different than her days in Lexington. She had three practices a week at Henry Clay, while Lyons has doubles and 10 practices each week.

“High school swimming’s more of a team and much more serious in Illinois,” she said. “If you’re swimming, it’s all you’re involved in because you put so much time into it.”

Those long practice sessions turned out to be a good way to ease into her new environment.

“[The transition] was hard at first because I was thrown into a team atmosphere that had already formed, but it was easier because you’re with them so much that you get comfortable really quickly,” she said. “On the first day of practice, everyone asked my name, where I was from, what I swam … so I didn’t just stand there awkwardly not knowing anyone.”

Clark has a long list of events that she swims: 200 individual medley, 100 back, backstroke on the medley relay, fly, breaststroke and 400 free relay. Only about 12 of the nearly 70 swimmers on Lyons can compete in sectionals.

“Though she doesn’t believe it, she’s a good free as well,” Johns said. “She’s definitely one of those girls you could put in any event and she’d do well in it.

“It’s still early in the season, but she’s certainly in that mix of girls [who will swim at sectionals].”