Sept. 10, 2007
FAIRBANKS, AK -Alaska Nanooks' swimming head coach Scott Lemley announced on Monday the addition of Sarah Rockwell of Anchorage, Alaska for the 2007-08 season. She enters the University of Alaska Fairbanks as a freshman.
Lemley, who had previously coached Rockwell when she was 12-years-old, contacted Rockwell and began discussing the possibility of her coming to Fairbanks to pursue her education and swimming career with the Nanooks. "We had a prior connection because I was her coach when I lived in Anchorage several years ago," Lemley said. "It was when she had just started to become a really good swimmer."
Rockwell attended Division I University of Southern California (Pac-10 conference) in the fall of 2005, but withdrew from USC that November due to medical reasons. She returned to Alaska, got married and had been working for the past two years until Lemley contacted her recently.
"[Coming to Fairbanks] it all happened really fast. Scott and I started talking two weeks before school started and I wasn't really thinking about coming back to school because I had been working and I'm married," Rockwell said. "But Scott called me up and told me `we have a team up here with a great facility and a great school and great girls'. He had been my coach when I was younger and we've kept in touch since so I have a lot of trust in him and that was a big part of it [my decision]."
Prior to her brief stint with the Trojans, Rockwell was a four-year standout at Robert Service High School where as a senior (2004-05) she became the first Alaskan high school swimmer to record the fastest time in the state in every event. She was named the State Swimmer of the Year in 2002 after setting state records in the 100 meter freestyle and 200 meter individual medley.
"She's someone who is world class," Lemley said. "We potentially have someone who will qualify for the Olympic trials and represent our country: that's the caliber of swimmer that she is."
According to Lemley, Rockwell completes the picture for the Nanooks' relay team. "She is the missing piece," said Lemley, "Jacqueline [vanDriessche] will be our backstroker, Maria Pavlovskaya is a great breaststroker, and Kelly [Becker] of course is an All-American butterflier. We needed a sprint freestyler at the end and that's what Sarah's specialty is. We should easily qualify all of our relays for nationals."
Rockwell was also excited for the depth she felt she could add to an already promising Alaska program. "I'm really excited and this year I think everyone is going to be impressed. We're going to go over and above [the expectations] and have quite a few people at nationals."
Despite not having swum at the collegiate level since November of 2005 Rockwell is having little trouble getting back into the swing of things. "I've been swimming for so long that I know its only a matter of time before it comes back; already I'm feeling so much better and Scott is working with me."
A double major in computer science and mathematics at UAF, Rockwell's academic prowess is also noteworthy for Lemley.
"[As a team] we are so focused on doing well academically; we think she will fit in well there and lead by example," he said. "Right off the bat, she'll show the other girls that you can be a great student and a great athlete."
Rockwell was also enthusiastic about UAF for reasons outside of her athletic ties. "Being in a Division II program there's still a lot of [athletic] competition but there's not as much pressure to survive [as a Division I]. You can focus on other things like your family and school and succeeding in all your areas of life other than just athletics and that's really important to me because I know there is a life outside of swimming."
The Nanooks will make their debut on Oct. 6 in the Blue and Gold intra-squad meet at noon at the Patty Center. Alaska hosts its first outside opponent on Oct. 19-20, when Loyola Marymount comes to Fairbanks for two days of competition. The Nanooks complete schedule can be viewed online at http://alaskananooks.cstv.com/sports/w-swimonly/sched/alaf-w-swimonly-sched.html.
