By Aaron Polevoi (WSU Athletic Communications)
Leadership gives Presley Wetterstrom an Edge
Washington State senior swimmer Presley Wetterstrom is a testament to where hard work, dedication, and determination goes if the time and effort is put in.
As she is halfway through her senior season in Pullman, Wetterstrom leads the Cougar swimmers with a team-high seven wins; two in the 100 breaststroke and five in the 200 breaststroke.
It is her way of leading by example which has helped Coach Tom Jager build the Cougar swimming team into one of the top programs in the Pac-12 conference. Washington State has been ranked among the top teams in the country and the Pac-12 throughout the season.
“When I first came in here, Tom had just started so it was a building process,” Wetterstrom said. “I think my class was the first class that he was able to recruit himself, and from there on he kept recruiting strong classes and kept building.”
Once Jager took over the helm of the Cougar swimming program back in 2011, he recruited Wetterstrom and others to Pullman in hopes of rebuilding the Cougars. Four years later, the Cougars opened the season being ranked No. 16, the highest ranking in program history. Wetterstrom has noticed how her teammates push and support each other.
“It's not just this year that we brought in strong freshman, but everybody on the team is swimming better,” she said. “I think once you start getting faster swimmers even the swimmers that weren't as fast before start to step up once they see the team going in that direction.”
On Nov. 7, Wetterstrom and the Cougars traveled to San Diego to take on the Aztecs and the Lobos in a dual meet. Despite losing the opportunity to win points in the diving competition, Washington State was able to sweep the meet with wins over both programs.
“San Diego State and New Mexico both scored diving against us so we knew it was going to be a challenge because we don't have diving, so that's 30 free points that they get,” said Wetterstrom. “It was really cool to beat San Diego State with them scoring diving. Everybody just stepped up and we won a lot of races.”
In the Ohio State Invitational two weeks ago, Wetterstrom led the Cougars with a record-setting win in the 200 Breaststroke, touching the wall in a school-record 2:11.24, good for an NCAA Standard “B” mark and the 12th-best time in the country this season. Wetterstrom attributes dedication to the sport she loves as a factor for turning herself into the swimmer she is now.
“When I came in as a freshman, I was not as fast as I am now. I think dedication and sticking with swimming has gotten me to where I am today,” said Wetterstrom.
With just six meets left until the Pac-12 Swimming Championships, Wetterstrom is channeling her focus into her final races and trying not to look too far into the future.
“I'm trying to just focus on swimming because I don't want to be done yet,” she said. “So I feel like I might think about it, I'll start to get sad.”
Her future, however, is quite bright.
Wetterstrom, along with freshman teammate Jasmine Margetts, are both pursuing a larger dream of swimming for the USA Olympic Team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Wetterstrom qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trial in the 200 breaststroke and finished with a time of 2:34.02. Both Wetterstrom and Margetts will travel to Omaha, Neb. next summer to compete for a roster spot on the Olympic team.
“From the time I was young, I really wanted to go to the Olympic Trials. That's one of the biggest goals I had because when you start there's sectionals and then junior nationals and nationals, but Olympic Trials is the big one,” said Wetterstrom. “I was just happy to make it. I'm going to go there and do the best that I can, score the highest place that I can and hopefully make a semifinal.”
No matter where Wetterstrom goes around the world to swim, she'll never forget her time spent in Pullman apart of the swimming program.
“I'm definitely going to miss the team and my coaches. I've made some of the best friends ever here and our team is really close.”
