Date: Fri 26-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Jaime-Ryan-Sportsman

Full Text:

Jaime Ryan -- 1998 Sportsman Of The Year

(with photos)

BY KIM J. HARMON

Jaime Ryan was just three years old when Cathy Carney was re-adjusting the

Newtown High School girls' swimming record board to reflect her almost

legendary accomplishments back in 1984 -- ten individual and relay records

earned in a three-month binge unlike any seen before.

Fourteen years later, however, Carney's exploits and accomplishments will have

to exist only in memory. For Jaime, now a senior, has succeeding over the last

four years in eradicating any mention of Cathy Carney while accumulating 12

individual and relay records of her own.

With all those records, and with a bright and promising future at Penn State

looming just six months away, Jaime Ryan was named The Newtown Bee Sportsman

of the Year. A dinner in her honor was held Sunday, February 21, at Ondine's

in New Fairfield with her coach and parents also in attendance.

At The Tender

Age Of Five

Jaime, the daughter of Jim and Karen Ryan, began swimming when she was five

years old up in Essex, Vermont. But for the first three years she only swam

for those few months in season. It wasn't until she was eight that she began

to swim year-round with an age group swim team.

Soon after, the Ryan family moved to Newtown. Jaime joined the Fairfield Area

Swim Team (FAST) and swam there until the ninth grade -- her freshman season

with Newtown High School. Then, like a lot of other swimmers with budding

talent, she quit FAST and gravitated towards the Wilton Wahoos, one of the

strongest youth swimming programs of its kind.

Jaime remembered those days, when she was still busy refining her strokes,

when -- as she said -- her butterfly all of a sudden came together to the

point where she could do 50 yards without being disqualified and when she

broke six minutes in the 500-yard freestyle for the first time.

"Freshmen year, I didn't know what to expect," said Jaime, who has had her

sister, Katie, as a teammate for the last three years. "I was just excited to

be on the team and I just got in the water and swam. I didn't even expect to

make the SWCs or Opens."

Those were not the days to be thinking about the records on the record board,

but Jaime was certainly aware of them.

"I think I noticed the records more as a freshman," she said. "At FAST, I

would be using the kick boards and I would be bored and I'd look up at the

records."

The first record she earned was in the 100-yard breaststroke -- just five

meets into her high school career. That started the domino effect, because

then other records started to fall (over and over again, as Jaime fine-tuned

her times).

Now there are 12.

xx individual and xx relay records

xx school and xx pool records.

"I look at the board now and don't think, wow, because those are not my best

times any more," Jaime said. "It's great to see them, but I don't feel like

those are my accomplishments."

There is, of course, no telling what might have happened in 1998 had a rotator

cuff injury not shortened her season. It is fair to say that Jaime would have

at least re-broken some of her records and most likely set a new 500-yard

freestyle record, becoming the only swimmer in Newtown High School history to

do the event in under five minutes.

But it wasn't to be. When she discovered that nobody iced their shoulder as

much as she did after a hard practice or meet ("I never could differentiate

between regular soreness and pain," she said) she sought advice from doctors

and after a couple wrong turns and inaccurate diagnoses, she finally

discovered that she had a torn rotator cuff.

"I'm very sorry about it," said Jaime. "I feel that I'm not done. I didn't

finish what I started. I hated to go down there and watch the meets. It was

really hard watching."

But it wasn't hard to make the decision to scrap the season.

"I wanted to fix the problem," she said.

In January, Jaime was able to get back in the water. She started slowly and

has worked up to between 1,200 and 2,000 yards a day -- when a typical workout

down in Wilton is between 5,000 and 7,000 yards.

Maybe the hardest part of the process now, said Jaime, is pacing herself.

"Right now, I'm a little bit nervous," she added, "because I'm struggling with

the fact that I can't increase my yardage yet. But I'm pretty confident and

the doctor is happy (with my progress)."

That progress should have her ready for her first collegiate season with the

Nittany Lions of Penn State.

"They aren't too concerned about (the injury)," said Jaime. "They have had

girls who have had the surgery and they know what to expect. (The coach) told

me I should make the travel team, that I already have Big 10 cuts."

But, she frowned, not NCAA cuts.

"During my recruiting trip I saw a dual meet and I expected to be in awe of

the times," Jaime said, "but it wasn't much different than meets with Wilton.

I feel like I'm in control and I won't jump in the water and just flounder. I

didn't want to go to a program where I was at the tail end of the team or the

best on the team. I wanted to start right in the middle."

At Newtown High School, Jaime has always been far from the middle. She is on

the National Honor Society, the Foreign Language Honor Society (Spanish and

Latin -- which she enjoys studying), and has been on the Class Council since

the 10th grade. She has also been involved with Interact and a number of other

clubs and organizations in the past.

Jaime even played freshman basketball, but that seems better left to her

sister (a starting forward with the Lady Nighthawks) and her brother, Tom.

Down In Wilton

With The Wahoos

There are many who believe that swimming may pose one of the toughest tests of

mental endurance -- the miles and miles of driving, the endless practices, the

thousands upon thousands of yards of water covered in an effort to shave a

mere a second or two off a time.

Finding motivation for that can be hard.

"I love being in the water," Jaime said. "I love working hard and racing."

Jaime makes the tough trip to Wilton about six times a week.

"The drive gives me a chance to think about stuff that happened during the

day," she said. "With Wilton and Newtown, it's two different worlds. I love it

there and the attitude that everyone has keeps me motivated. If someone is

really driven, it's the attitude of the coaches and everyone there that makes

it work. You're encouraged and supported and you have a purpose in being

there."

At Wilton, the big meets are the YMCA Nationals, the Senior Nationals, and the

Junior Nationals. Some of the best swimmers in the country get together for

strong competition and lots of exposure.

"The Y Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale is a big deal," said Jaime. "The team goes

down there to win. It's a really tough meet and you want to strive for it.

When I first came on the team, everyone told me, `you have to make this meet.'

They were so excited about."

Last year -- April 14 through 17 -- Jaime went down to Ft. Lauderdale (with

NHS teammates Kari Fisher and Stephanie Nickse) to swim the best meet of her

life. As a team, Wilton finished fourth out of 270 teams nationwide while,

individually, Jaime was fourth in the mile (17:02.68), 12th in the 200-yard

freestyle (1:53.39), and ninth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.08).

It was the first -- and so far only -- time she broke five minutes in the 500.

"I was very satisfied," said Jaime, "but my goal was a 4:55. In the morning I

did five minutes in an outside lane. I felt terrible and I was just battling

the water. But I went back to the hotel, got a rubdown, and that night I felt

great. It was just right. It was awesome. "

What could turn out to be more awesome is her impending Division I swimming

career. But with the success of her high school career to build on and the

promise of the future to look forward to, even the word awesome seems much too

tame to use.