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Published: 7/8/2012 | Updated: 7/7/2012
By MATT SCHUCKMAN
Herald-Whig Sports Writer
Allison Ford's connection with U.S. Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin extends beyond the sport they both enjoy. "She has the same birthday as me," said Ford, a 10-year-old swimmer from Canton, Mo., who competes competitively with the Sheridan Swim Club. "That's kind of neat." It's why Ford will cheer every time Franklin dives in the Olympic pool during the upcoming London Games. "Yeah, I'll watch," Ford said. "I want her to win." She isn't the only one. Although most of the swimmers competing in this weekend's 18th annual Titan Firecracker Classic at Sheridan Swim Club will tell you Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are their favorite Olympians, they'll be rooting for Franklin, Dana Vollmer and Allison Schmitt just the same. "You watch them all," said Hannah Rosen, a 15-year-old Sheridan swimmer. "You watch other swimmer's techniques and you can relate that to your own swimming." Or to a personal experience, which is what Laken Hugenberg does. Two years ago, Hugenberg and her family went to the University of Missouri to watch a group of Olympians participate in the Missouri Grand Prix. Lochte, who owns six Olympic medals and will compete in seven events in London, happened to be one of the participants, and Hugenberg happened to meet. "I didn't expect it," said Hugenberg, an 11-year-old swimmer with Sheridan. "I just wanted to see them swim." Standing near the end of the pool where the swimmers exited, Hugenberg asked Lochte for an autograph. It turned a brief conversation and a photo opportunity. "Wow," Hugenberg said. It's given her a legitimate tie to the Olympics and a rooting interest. "Knowing that I met him and then going and watching him on TV, it's like, â Wow, I really met him,'" Hugenberg said. However, she does more than cheer. She takes notes. "I watch to see what they do and how they do it and see what I can do different or better," Hugenberg said. "How do they do things compared to how I do it? I watch their starts, pull outs and turns. You hope to learn something from it." It certainly seems to leave an impact. "She really gets into watching the meet," said Hugenberg's mother, Kim. "When she watches, she gets really excited to see Lochte. We taped every night (of the Olympic trials) so we can go back and watch again and again. And she takes it serious. When we say something like, â He had a really good dive,' she'll say something like, â Yes, he did, but ...' She is learning so much." Hugenberg isn't the only one. "It's awesome how zoomed in on a swimmer they can get," said Joanna Stay, whose 7-year-old son, Tanner, swims for Sheridan. "He's sitting there watching and going, â Oh, he does keep his legs together when he dives in. Maybe I need to listen to coach when he tells me that.' Seeing it on TV by a professional like that is really making an impact on him." Certain views help more than others. "When they do the underwater shots, it's kind of easy to see how they're stroking," said 10-year-old Lauren Frazier, another Sheridan swimmer. "Above water, you can't really see anything. So the underwater shots are helpful." They can be encouraging, too. When the Olympic telecasts tell the behind-the-scenes stories of the swimmers, young fans often get to see old pictures of the Olympians swimming in youth events. It perpetuates the idea this is where Olympic dreams begin. "I just hope that I can get there," Laken Hugeneberg said. "That would be incredible." Every swimmer thinks so. "I think that's what every swimmer's goal is, to make it to the Olympics," Frazier said. "Maybe one of us will get there." If so, there will be pool full of Olympic dreamers rooting for them, too. -- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366
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