Even three months later, an untimely late-summer injury still disturbs Chesterton senior swimming star Vanessa Krause.
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Physically, Krause is 99 percent recovered from a sprained ankle that occurred the day before nationals began. The misfortune of not being able to compete at nationals, however, still weighs on her mind.
“The summer was a letdown,” Krause said. “It was hard to take it, and it took me a while to get back into swimming this year. Of course, when something like that happens, everyone thinks it’s the end of the world.”
That’s when Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel stepped in and told Krause — who finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard butterfly in last year’s state meet — to use the injury as motivation.
In a way that only someone with Kinel’s level of experience could, the veteran coach delivered a pep talk that altered Krause’s perspective on the injury.
“Any time you have high hopes and aspirations and they get taken from you, it causes kids to give up and say, ‘Why me?’ or it causes them to strive that much harder,” Kinel said. “Fortunately, she took the second approach and decided that she was going to turn that around. It made her hungry again, and when she goes after something, look out.”
The future is bright for Krause, who will swim collegiately at Michigan, which is currently ranked fourth in the country.
She chose the Wolverines over Indiana, Ohio State and Louisville. Former Chesterton swimmers Kyle and Aaron Whitaker both attend Michigan. It also was the college home of Olympic superstar Michael Phelps.
“It’s always been my dream school,” Krause said. “They showed interest in me, and I jumped right on it. I didn’t want them to change their mind, so I decided pretty easily.”
Krause will help fill the shoes of Zionsville, Ind. native Zoe Mattingly, who will graduate from Michigan after this season. Mattingly is the team’s top 100-fly swimmer.
With her future home now decided, Krause’s undivided attention is on her senior season.
Krause has earned top-five state finishes in all six of her individual events, but she’s more than willing to make more room in her trophy case by season’s end.
“She’s a determined person in general,” Kinel said. “You see that in every walk of her life. She’s like that academically; she’s like that athletically. The best way to describe her is ‘driven.’
“In the early part of the season, she struggled a little bit because the ankle was so tender, but she’s worked her way back in really well.”
The Trojans, who have everyone back from a team that finished third at state last season, started the season with a 157-8 dual-meet victory over Highland.
Krause started the year on a high note by breaking her own pool record in the 50 free (23.33 seconds) and winning the 100 fly (54.56).
“The girls are fired up this year,” Krause said. “I’m really excited because we’re all chugging along. Watch out, because our times are going to be really fast.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.