Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week: Nicole Mackey, Finding new

frontiers

Tony Altobelli

Following her trip to Anchorage, Alaska for the United States

Junior National Championships last week, the Last Frontier State may have

considered changing its state fish from the king salmon to the “Queen

Mackey,” named after Newport Harbor High freshman swimmer Nicole Mackey.

Mackey, representing the Irvine Aquazots, won the 100-yard backstroke

with an Olympic-qualifying time of 55.72. She also won the 500 freestyle

in 4:52.73 and was narrowly beaten in the 200 free with a 1:49.56

clocking.

“This year, I’ve been able to drop a lot of time off my events,” Mackey

said. “I really don’t know why that is and I don’t care, just as long as

the time keeps going down.”

What she lacks in explanation, Mackey more than makes up in versatility.

“It’s almost like I could put her in any event we need her in,” Newport

Harbor Coach Ken LaMont said. “You can teach someone how to swim, but you

can’t teach someone to compete. She’s knows how to compete.”

Everything from the medley races to each individual stroke, Mackey just

likes to swim and swim and swim.

“Heck, I’d swim in all the events if they’d let me,” she said with a

laugh. “I’m only allowed to go in four events per meet, though.”

A competitor since she was 11, Mackey is just starting to see the rewards

of her hard work. And she still sees lots of areas in which she can

improve.

“The breaststroke is my toughest event by far,” Mackey said. “My leg kick

is just awful. I can’t finish my leg kick, so I just fake it a lot of the

time.”

One thing working in her corner is her care-free attitude. Just ask her.

“If I lose, I don’t really let it get to me all that much,” she said.

“It’s like, ‘I lose. I’m over it.’ ”

LaMont considers this attitude when deciding which events to put her in.

“She’ll come up and ask me, ‘What events will I race in?’ and I’ll tell

her and she shrugs her shoulders and says, OK,’ ” LaMont said. “She

definitely leads by example.”

With each meet, the Sea View League and CIF finals inch closer and

closer, which should fit right into Mackey’s schedule.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what she can do against girls of

equal talent,” LaMont said. “She’s very talented and her best stuff is

still ahead of her.”

Out of the pool, Mackey is a coin collector. “I’ve got coins from Mexico,

Portugal, old coins, new coins,” she said. “I’ve got a big box that I

collect ‘em in. Whenever I see a cool coin, I throw it into the box.”