Sophia Umstead qualifies for Olympic swimming trials on final chance; 5 MLA qualifiers
The Holland area has sent several swimmers to the U.S. Olympic Trials each Olympic year this century.
This year is no different as five Michigan Lakeshore Aquatic swimmers, past and present, will compete in this year's meet, which begins June 15 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Most of the athletes are college or post-grad swimmers, led by Holland native Derek Maas, who has also swam for West Ottawa Swim Club. He will be joined by Kathryn Ackerman, Cam Peel, Morgan Kraus - who have all made the trials before - and first-time qualifier Sophia Umstead.
Umstead, a high school swimmer from Jenison, who swims with MLA in Holland, made the trials on her last possible race, last weekend at the Big Red Challenge at Holland Community Aquatic Center.
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"Going into finals that night, I knew it was my last chance to qualify for trials," Umstead said. "It has been one of my biggest goals for a long time and I was going to go for it. Before the race I just kept thinking, 'leave it all in the pool and give it my best shot.'"
Then she dove in and the energy of the moment kicked in.
"While swimming I could hear my team and the pool deck cheering for me every time I came up from the water," she said. "Toward the end of the race I knew I was close because I could hear everyone, so I finished with everything I had. When I finished the race and looked up at the board I was so happy seeing that time. I was emotional because one of my biggest dreams had finally become a reality. It felt good knowing the hard work and time my coaches and I put into this had paid off.
"I could not have achieved this without them or my teammates pushing me to be my best and always believing in me."
That team produced five qualifiers in 2024.
Maas is a former state champion from West Ottawa who was an All-American at Alabama. He graduated and moved on to medical school at NYU. With one more year of eligibility, he became an NCAA Division III national champion in the breaststroke.
Ackerman, a Grand Haven native who specializes in the IM events, just graduated from Michigan and has one more year of swimming, which she will do at Purdue as a grad student.
Peel, a sprinter from Spring Lake, started at Michigan then transferred to Arizona State where he helped the Sun Devils win the NCAA championship in March.
Kraus, a butterfly and backstroke specialist from Rockford, just finished her fifth year at Ohio State.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Sophia Umstead qualifies for Olympic swimming trials; 5 MLA qualifiers
