St. Ed’s swimmer Alexandra Stern thought her first trip to the Class 1A state tournament was pretty cool, and then some. The 13-year-old eighth-grader was the only Pirate at the championship meet in Stuart following a steady climb through district and regional trials.
“First, it was really cold and rainy,” Stern recalled. “I stayed under the tent and I was trying to warm up right before I got behind the blocks. It was about 50 degrees and pouring rain, but it turned out pretty good. I got my best time in the 200 free, but not in the 500. It was fun being the only person to represent St. Edward’s.”
Stern specialized in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events competing for St. Ed’s varsity in the postseason tournaments. At districts she was first in both and followed that up with a pair of second place finishes at regionals.
At states she posted a personal best of 2:00.86 in the 200, and ended up placing 22nd in both events, pointing out just how much the competition stiffened against girls several years her senior. Her plan is to keep at it and gradually close that gap.
“Next year obviously I would like to have faster times,” she said. “I think that would put me in the middle because this year I was at the lower end (of the pack). The year after that I think I will be closer to the top. And by the time I’m a senior I will be at the top.”
Stern will work at those incremental improvements under the dual guidance of St. Ed’s varsity head coach Stephen Fenning, and Indian River Aquatics head swim coach Manny Noguchi. This is a year-round enterprise for Stern.
“After school I swim for about two hours at Indian River state College (in Fort Pierce),” Stern told us. “I’m pretty tired at the end of the day, but I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s like a habit. I think it helps me with school because it de-stresses me. I look forward to it and it’s really fun to do.”
She has been with her club team at IRA for five years and on the St. Ed’s varsity team since sixth grade. Other than the 200 and 500 freestyles, she also “likes to do” the 800 free and 400 individual medley.
This year St. Ed’s relay teams comprised of Stern, Faith Mead, Laurel Logemann and Selma Memet qualified for regionals in the 200 freestyle and 200 medley. Stern’s individual state appearance followed successive trips to regionals in sixth and seventh grade.
“Alexandra has been advancing each year, so she’s making progress,” Fenning said. “Basically she’s still growing and the high school girls are a lot bigger and stronger. She’s done a lot for the size that she is, and the age that she is.
“She’s got a great work ethic, she’s very coachable and she’s driven in practice. She very well could be top three at states by the time she’s a senior.”
Her club coach couldn’t agree more. “She is humble, self-driven, and self-disciplined,” Noguchi said. “Further, she truly enjoys being in the water. She has a smile that gives you an absolute joy to work with. As a result, Alexandra is simply coachable based upon her growth mindset.”
Fenning is excited about the potential as he works with young boys and girls teams at St. Ed’s. Stern is his prize pupil as he transitions from a golden era that saw several boys compete at states and go on to swim for college programs.
“With the boys we had a very novice group this year,” Fenning said. “The surprise was Alex Roberts, who qualified for the regional meet in the 200 and 500 free. We have one other year-round swimmer, Jozef Wolek. The others are seasonal.
“The girls have improved significantly. We had two relay teams qualify for regionals and Faith Mead advanced after being in the top 10 at districts in the 50 and 100 free. She’s a very talented girl. Selma Memet is a year-round swimmer and the Logemann sisters (Laurel and Addison) are year-round sporadically, when they aren’t doing other things, like theater. Overall this was a lot better than last year.
“The girls and boys are very young and enthusiastic. I’m looking forward to having all of them come back.”
One thing is guaranteed. Right now Alexandra Stern is in many ways a typical eighth-grader in that she appears to be having a blast with her teammates at school and on her club team, all the time working very hard on her personal goals.