Girls Swimming / South Puget Sound League -- Success, And Sacrifice, For Stender -- Federal Way Senior Sets Sights On Titles

FEDERAL WAY - When she first started swimming, her parents nearly had to push her into the pool.

Today, Karin Stender pushes herself to become one of the state's top swimmers. The Federal Way senior will be a contender in both the 200-meter individual medley and the 100 butterfly at the Class 4A state meet next month. She placed fourth in the fly at the Class AAA state meet as a junior and was third in the IM before being disqualified on a technicality.

The success hasn't come without sacrifice. Three days a week, Stender endures three workouts per day - two with her club team, King Aquatic, and one with the Eagles. Those days, she's up at 4:30 a.m. and doesn't get home until 8 p.m. Then comes dinner, homework and, if possible, a 9:30 p.m. bedtime. When she's not in the swimming pool, she's in the weight room.

"She's a maniac," Federal Way Coach Jo Bushnell said. "She loves it. She has what it takes, that's for sure."

When it comes to swimming, Stender can't seem to get enough.

"She gets tired, but she never gets tired of swimming," said her mother, Linda. "A lot of times, her social life is put aside because swimming comes first, and academics. She's pretty disciplined about it, and she's been that way for years."

Stender said her friends are supportive, and a little in awe of her schedule.

"They're like, `Wow, how do you do that?' " she said. "And they're always telling me I smell like chlorine."

She took her first competitive plunge at age 4 - although not entirely on her own.

"I think her biggest fear was she didn't like the starting gun," her mother said. "And she was afraid she wasn't going to make it all of the way across the pool. I remember one of the meets, the gun went off and she just stood there. I went over and picked her up and pushed her in the pool."

Stender made her first big waves as a freshman. She placed seventh in the 500 free and won the consolation final (ninth overall) in the 200 IM, although her time (2 minutes 13.51 seconds) would have been good enough for seventh in the championship final.

As a sophomore, Stender moved up to fifth in the IM and won the consolation final in the 100 butterfly - again her time (51.28) was fast enough to push her up in the championship finals (she would have been sixth).

Stender made the finals in both the individual medley and fly last year. When she touched in third place in the IM, behind friends Julie Massey (who has since transferred from Decatur back to Mount Rainier) and Tiffany O'Brien (a 1997 Eastlake grad who formerly swam for Decatur), Stender was satisfied.

The feeling didn't last long.

"I got out of the pool and one of the officials in a white shirt came over and said, `You've been disqualified,' " Stender said. "I didn't even understand what he'd said."

Stender had used a dolphin kick on her side after pushing off the wall making a turn in the butterfly leg. It was nothing she hadn't done all season. As it turned out, though, a rule change last year had made the kick illegal. The rule has since been changed back.

"I didn't know about it," Stender said. "I was very mad."

Distraught is more like it. She cried, she hyperventilated. And 30 minutes later she had to swim the butterfly - which she did with special care to avoid the illegal kick. She finished fifth.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't get disqualified, so I was extra cautious," Stender said. "It probably slowed me down."

Currently, Stender's biggest challenge is choosing a college. She has a recruiting trip planned to the University of New Mexico next week and also is very interested in Colorado State and UNLV. She would like to sign early (Nov. 14-19), but doesn't know where she'll find the time to make her visits before then.

"I'm still in a predicament about that," Stender said. "I really want to sign early, but I need to see the schools first. I don't know if I can, with the training I need for state."

For that, Stender is making one final push. ----------------------------------------------------------------- SPSL swimmers and divers to watch

Agbalog, sr., Tahoma, diving Cassie Berngasser, so., Rogers, IM, breaststroke Katilin Bourne, jr., Curtis, breaststroke, freestyle Gayle Butler, fr., Auburn, backstroke Lindsey Carlaw, sr. Curtis, all-around Jessica Chamberlain, so., Kentlake, IM, breststroke Courtney Coddington, fr., Kentridge, distance freestyle Megan Coddington, jr., Kentridge, all-around Marissa DeAugustine, sr., Rogers, IM, breaststroke Rachel DiPasquale, fr., Kentridge, sprint freestyle Brittney Drennen, sr., Rogers, diving Melissa Fuda, jr., Kentridge, IM, breaststroke Selina Gatz, so., Enumclaw, butterfly Stephanie Grohs, sr., Kentridge, backstroke Jennifer Haley, fr., Kentlake, butterfly Amber Jacques, sr., Auburn Riverside, diving Hanna Jo, fr., Kent-Meridian, all-around Beth Kear, sr., Tahoma, all-around Tiffany Korab, jr., Kentridge, backstroke Penny Knight, so., Enumclaw, backstroke, freestyle Susan Larson, sr., Kent-Meridian, backstroke, IM Jenny Lee, fr., Kentridge, all-around Jessica Macary, so., Tahoma, sprint freestyle Kim Matz, so., Puyallup, freestyle Amy Mayre, sr., Rogers, IM, butterfly Allison Melton, sr., Rogers, freestyle Jennifer Oskam, so., Decatur, backstroke, butterfly Courtney Parks, fr., Rogers, freestyle Erin Patterson, so., Sumner, backstroke, freestyle Katie Peterson, fr., Tahoma, butterfly, breaststroke Nicolette Plourd, sr., Kentwood, butterfly Heidi Prosser, jr., Curtis, diving Melissa Rockwell, so., Kent-Meridian, freestyle, breaststroke Elizabeth Scott, jr., Jefferson, breaststroke Angela Smith, jr., Sumner, diving Tricia Smithson, so., Tahoma, all-around Lore Steck, fr., Rogers, butterfly, distance free Carissa Sutter, sr., Rogers, breaststroke Meghan Schwab, jr., Auburn, freestyle Sherie Tornquist, so., Rogers, sprint freestyle, butterfly Abby Walk, sr., Puyallup, butterfly, IM Jackie Walk, so., Puyallup, distance freestyle Joleen Wells, jr., Puyallup, diving Chelsea Williams, so., Rogers, all-around Stephanie Williams, so., Jefferson, butterfly Emily Woodworth, so., Kent-Meridian, backstroke, freestyle