Maddie Wrolson has come a long way in her seven years as a swimmer.
The 14-year-old Puyallup Tribal member lives in the Hamilton Mill community in Dacula, Ga.
Maddie had never even taken swimming lessons when she joined a summer swim league at the request of a friend at age 7.
Today, the eighth-grader has received statewide and national recognition for her speed and strength as a swimmer. She has broken records, and has ranked at times that Olympic swimmer Amanda Weir swam when she was 12.
A Gwinnett County Swim League meet in July 2008 is where Maddie first made her mark on the local swimming community.
She placed first in three races (the 50 yard backstroke, 100 yard individual medley and the 50 yard butterfly) while placing first overall in her age group, and breaking the county all-time record for the 50-fly with a time of 27.25.
Amanda Weir set the previous record more than a decade ago.
In November 2008, Maddie’s time in the 50-yard fly put her in the top 10 swimmers for her age group in the country. It also made her No. 1 for 11-12 year old girls in the SwimAtlanta swim club.
More recently, Maddie has continued to beat her own times, consistently improving her strength and speed.
She is currently working to get her 100-fly time of 58.33 seconds down to 57.29 to qualify for both upcoming Junior National events. The first Junior Nationals meet is held in March.
Looking back on her swimming experience, Maddie said it is all about believing in herself, and determination. “When Maddie joined the summer league (at age 7) she did it not knowing a lick of how to swim,” her mom Kelly Wrolson said. “It was kind of a joke that first year.”
But Maddie said that first summer opened her eyes to her ability to swim and improve, and she ran with it. She said the small size of her swim club afforded her a little extra attention to her training.
“They helped me get faster, and after I stared swimming for a while and realized I could do something, I started to get more determined,” Maddie said. “I started setting little goals for myself to help keep me motivated and reach my big goals.
“Every year I set my sights higher.”
Before Maddie broke the county record in 2008, her summer was devoted to improving her time and increasing her strength.
“I wanted that so bad, the whole summer I was so determined to get that time. At county I was so pumped and ready to do it – I just went all out,” she said.
“When I broke the record I was so satisfied… I realized I could do anything if I put my mind to do it. That’s what I’ve been going for ever since then.”
Training can be a major physical and time commitment for competitive swimmers. Some athletes Maddie’s age are training more than five hours a day.
Maddie Wrolson likes to keep things balanced in her life, and while she swims for two hours six days a week, she is also an accomplished singer, a straight-A student and is involved at her church.
“I can’t just stay home and do nothing. Doing all that keeps me up and going, and it keeps me on a schedule. I love to swim and I love to sing. Doing both of those makes me incredibly happy.
“I think of it as a privilege.”
As Maddie enters high school next September, she plans to keep up her swimming and plans on making the All-American time for high school, which is 56.57 for the 100-fly.
She hopes to swim in college, and has her sights set on college scholarships, and hopefully attending Stanford University, where they
offer high-caliber swimming and music programs.
Maddie Wrolson’s ultimate goal as a swimmer is getting to the Olympics. And with her background of meeting and surpassing times of swimmers who eventually made a successful run in the Olympics, it seems like she is well on her way. And of course, she has already put her mind to it, which has proved successful for her so far in life.
“Always keep with it, never let yourself down and you can achieve anything you put your mind to achieving,” she says. “Keep with it and keep your mind going strong.”
