Mackey’s trials come to close

Steve Virgen

Olympic dreams ended for Nicole Mackey Friday, but there were no

tears, no regrets and hardly any disappointment.

Mackey, a former Newport Harbor High standout, finished 25th in

2:19.95 in the 200-meter individual medley preliminaries and

extracted a meaningful experience from competing in the U.S. Olympic

swim trials at the Charter All-Digital Aquatics Centre in Long Beach.

She had to be in the top 16 to advance to the semifinals.

Mackey said she enjoyed being a part of the hoopla and

pressure-packed setting of the Olympic trials. She also said she

improved as a swimmer because of the intensity of her training and

the concentration she used in preparing for the trials.

She also had fun.

“Just being here was great,” said Mackey, who finished 21st in the

400 IM (4:54.10) Wednesday. “It’s fun seeing everyone do so well.

I’ve liked all of it. Not too many people get to compete in the

Olympic trials.”

Mackey finished fourth in her heat. She appeared to be in

contention for second place during the breaststroke portion of the

race, with about 75 meters remaining. But, as her coach, Brent

Lorenzen, said, Mackey struggled with 50 meters left for the

freestyle.

“I wish I could have gone a little faster,” Mackey said. “I felt I

had some left over.”

Lorenzen said Mackey is capable of a better swim. Overall, he

said, Mackey received great experience for her future, which involves

the University of Hawaii, where she will be a sophomore in the fall.

“She got two months of solid training in that she can continue to

build on,” Lorenzen said. “She enjoyed the hard work.”

Mackey agreed she received workouts that resulted in improvements.

Mackey trained with former Newport Harbor teammate Hayley Peirsol,

who is seeded second in the 800 freestyle that takes place Monday

with the preliminaries competed in the morning session, starting at 9

a.m.

Mackey plans to stay at the Olympic trials to continue to train

with Peirsol and to support her.

“We are basically our own team,” Mackey said. “We help each other

out. She has a really good chance of making the Olympics. She’s a

hard worker. Her sets [for training] are insane. It was a great

experience.”

Aside from the trials, Mackey said she plans to have fun again.

For the past three months she has been in strict training.

“I’m going to surf,” said Mackey, a 19-year-old. “I just want to

go to the beach. With the heavy training, you can’t do what other

kids are doing. Now I can just be a kid.”

Mackey will return to Hawaii Aug 18. She is hoping to build off

her successful freshman season, that included being named Freshman of

the Year for the Western Athletic Conference. She was also the WAC

champion in the 200 IM, 100 back and 200 back. She posted Hawaii

school records in the 100 back (54.58) and 200 back (1:58.39). She

was also named Swimmer of the Year for Hawaii.