Carpenter Is Ready to Take That Step to the Next Level

Kenny Carpenter of La Crescenta and Rose Bowl Aquatics got an up-close-and-personal look at the nation’s best swimmers two years ago when his club played host to the Phillips 66 U.S. Senior National Championships in Pasadena.

It might have been a little too personal.

Carpenter, a volunteer worker at the championships, helped collect urine samples of the winning athletes.

It wasn’t the most glamorous job, but it gave Carpenter, who was just about to start his freshman year at Crescenta Valley High, a chance to meet some of the top swimmers.

“Josh Davis and Mel Stewart were great,” Carpenter said.

“It was great just to talk to them for a few minutes.”

Carpenter hasn’t reached the status of Olympians Davis or Stewart yet, but he could take a big step this week when he competes in the Speedo West Region Junior National Swimming Championships in Clovis beginning Monday.

The event brings together most of the best 19-and-under swimmers west of the Mississippi River. Similar events are held simultaneously in Oxford, Ohio and New Orleans.

Perhaps the best swimmer from the region not competing in this week’s National Championships in Nashville, Carpenter has the best chance of winning an individual title.

He finished fifth in 1:50.13 in the 200-yard butterfly in the juniors in College Station, Texas, in March.

At the Southern Section Division II finals in May, Carpenter was second in the 100-yard backstroke and 100 butterfly.

Now after a summer of brutal training, Carpenter is in position to qualify for the U.S. Junior National team if he posts a time of 2:03.24 in the 200 butterfly, 56.31 in the 100 butterfly or is the fastest 16-year-old in the nation among all senior and junior events.

Jeff Dash of Swim Atlanta timed 2:03.91 to finish 15th in the Senior Nationals this week and Dan Westcott of The Woodlands Swim Club went 57.77 in the 100 for the fastest times so far.

If Carpenter makes the team, he’ll get to attend a training camp with some of the nation’s top coaches.

“I’ve been keeping watch over the [U.S.] Nationals,” Carpenter said. “I’m ready to do it.”

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The Junior Nationals is the last major meet of the summer. Most swimmers will get at least a couple of weeks off before resuming training in September.

“I’m going to catch up on my sleep,” Carpenter said. “I’ll have more time than I know what to do with.”

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With an entourage of nearly 20 athletes making the van ride a few hours north, Rose Bowl Aquatics will have the largest contingent of any club with local ties at the Junior Nationals.

Steve Kim and Evan Robb, two former Crescenta Valley High teammates of Carpenter, will compete in breaststroke and backstroke events, respectively. Kim is headed to West Point and Robb plans to swim at Golden West College.

Joel Everman, who will be a senior at Notre Dame High, won both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle at the Southern Section Division II finals. He will compete in all of the distance freestyle events in Clovis.

Carly Geehr, 12, of La Canada Flintridge and Heather Boylan of Saugus High, fresh off competing in Nashville, will also compete in Clovis.

Rose Bowl Coach Terry Stoddard won’t get much rest either. After returning home Saturday for one night, Stoddard will accompany the rest of his team to Clovis today.

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Josh Joffred, 11, of Dive Thousand Oaks, finished fourth in the 13-and-under one-meter, three-meter and platform diving events at the Zone E Junior Olympics in Federal Way, Wash., to qualify for the Junior Nationals in Austin, Texas, this week.