Olympics in mind

Five years of swimming might not sound like a lot, but Birmingham Swim League’s Rachel Cunningham is “the real deal” as far as her coach is concerned. 

The 15-year-old Spain Park student’s record is one that proves it, too. She qualified for finals in the 100 breaststroke at the Irvine Junior Nationals meet, and she’s competed in other top meets including the Grand Prix Arena USA Swimming event in Minnesota and the National Championships in Greensboro.

For her age group, Cunningham was named No. 3 in the nation in the 100 breaststroke, an event she favors and swims with confidence. Her next challenge is the upcoming NCSA Junior Nationals meet in Orlando, taking place March 17-21.  

“She’s really talented,” coach Mike Davidson said. “She can be top 8. She’s got the ability, but USA swimming has gotten so fast and there’s so much depth. Everything has to go right, but she should make top 8.”

Cunningham will be swimming the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the meet, which are the events she primarily trains for. She swims an impressive 1:03.55 100 breast versus the 1:06.39 qualifying time, and her 200 stands at 2:15.89 against the 2:23.29 qualifying time. With times like these, it’s no wonder the Olympic trials are on her mind. 

“Olympic trials are coming up in two years, so everything we are doing right now is in preparation for that meet — to make finals at that and to make the Olympics,” Cunningham said. “That’s good preparation for college and it looks really good on applications.”

On top of her workouts with BSL at the Birmingham CrossPlex, she participates in CrossFit, runs and performs exercises to get her body acclimated to swimming. She does anything she can to build strength and endurance. 

“I’m very competitive,” she said. “It helps when you are into swimming because it’s a very competitive sport.”

The junior national meet is one of the top 25 meets in the country for swimmers 18 years and under. Athletes from all over the country will participate in the meet, but Davidson said his swimmers have a great shot at finals. 

“It’s fun because where we are now, we’ve got a lot progress that can be made,” Davidson said. “For me it’s fun because I know we can get there. We can become a lot better and place a lot higher. To me it’s exciting because there’s really only one way to go, and that’s up.”