Young swimmer has her eye on ‘Gold’

Boredom can sometimes lead to new pursuits and great achievements; at least that was the case for nine-year-old Samantha Arellano. Slurping a lemon-lime and bubble gum slushie at Water and Ice one evening, Arellano, or “Sammy” as she likes to be called, explained how she went from a humdrum summer to breaking two swimming records and setting her eyes on an Olympic medal in just one year.

Nine-year-old “Sammy” Arellano takes time out from swimming for a treat.

“My friend Sydnee and I had nothin’ to do, and we were just watching TV all day,” Arellano explained, as both their mothers worked outside the home last summer. “Then her mom told her to go swim with the Barracudas, but she didn’t want to go alone.” It didn’t take much for her friend to convince Arellano to come along.

Just one year later, three-time Olympic gold medallist, Melissa Ripley, helps train the young swimmer to perfect her strokes and set goals. Arellano discovered a natural ability in swimming, practicing consistently in her backyard pool until she was strong enough to earn a spot on the Sun Devil Aquatics team. Arellano broke two Sun Devil records in one competition, turning the heads of coaches on all levels. “She was only aiming to break her butterfly record,” Joanna Arellano, Sammy’s mother, said, “but later, Coach Grace called and informed her that she had broken the backstroke, too.”

Arellano will compete in the butterfly later this month in Concord, California.

Another surprising phone call came soon after. “Ripley called us up, and we didn’t know who she was, but she knew every score and time that Sammy had swum,” explained Joanna. “She keeps an eye on every kid and knows everything about their record.” While Ripley won her first gold at the age of 15, Arellano wants to earn the medal for the butterfly when she turns 13, the qualifying age for Olympic competitors.

Referring to the young athlete, Ripley said, “She’s a real go-getter and has good focus. She’s very teachable and picks up on things very quickly.” For example, three months ago, Arellano wouldn’t have been thinking about her breaststroke as being very strong, but, after tweaking a few things, she ended up putting it all together with a time that could easily be competitive.

On her own, Arellano rises early and disciplines herself with her training and eating. “She’s always been like this,” Joanna Arellano said. “When I wake her up early, she gets up immediately.” Favoring vegetables and fruit over any other food group, she often trades her meat entrée with older brother Erwin for his broccoli. Each week she gives her mother a list of fruits and vegetables she wants from the store. “And when she’s upset, she doesn’t reach for a candy bar; she just chugs water,” her mother explained.

On her own, Samantha scans records on the Internet. “She has her own formula,” Joanna said, “knowing which girls she’ll compete against, their records, and the time she needs to beat them. Breaking those two records when she was only eight has given her the confidence to break more.”

A record-breaking award for Arellano last year–when she was only eight.

Incidentally, Samantha knew how to swim almost before she could walk. “Since we always had a pool at home, my greatest fear was that my kids would drown,” Samantha’s mother confessed. Arellano’s father, Erwin, would lovingly throw the kids in before jumping in himself. Now, he attends every meet and helps on the sidelines.

“I didn’t know my strokes back then, but my Mom calls it the ‘survival swim,'” Samantha says, laughing. Arellano and her brother figured out quickly how to stay afloat with their father’s help. Now, skill takes precedence as Samantha focuses on form and re-playing her coaches’ words while in the pool. “I try to think of what I’m doing wrong, then I figure out how to fix it,” she said. “If I can feel my legs are not together for the butterfly, I focus on bringing them back, like a Popsicle,” Arellano said, referring to the fruit-flavored treat with double wooden sticks.

Practicing five days a week, Arellano lives for competition but keeps balance in perspective. “I like to play soccer in the fall, sometimes,” she said, “and basketball, too.” When she’s not traveling to meets in the summer, Arellano also fits in a few piano lessons, and she loves to paint. “My favorite is when I painted a really cool Sun Devil with a devil’s stick,” she said, beaming.

Though swimming is a competitive, individual sport, Arellano’s mother was surprised to find that the girls on the team remain such close friends. “They race their best friends in the next lane, but it’s not a hateful sport. They wish each other good luck, and congratulate each other on races won.”

Barracudas Swim Team friends (from left) Sydnee Akers, Samantha Arellano, Samantha Cook and Andrea Wilson.

“Sammy” Arellano loves to compete and hopes to get her first Olympic medal in the next few years.

Arellano will compete in the 50 ‘fly and 100 free in Concord, California, for the Far Western meet later this month. She hopes to qualify for the “Zone” next year, a competition for the most elite youth swimmers. “I feel fairly confident that if she’s knocking down some Far Western events, she could qualify for the Zone next year,” Ripley said. “The goal is to not to do too much, too soon. At this point, we give them the skills, know-how and motivation to get better.”

Aside from winning gold at the Olympics, Arellano hopes to be a lawyer. “I like to watch Law & Order, and I think I have the brains to go investigate things,” she said. Surely digging up swimming records of champions has given her the skills to accomplish that dream in the future. Setting her sights high, Arellano’s ultimate goal is to “set a world record so fast it will hold up maybe even after I die.” Perhaps her bubble gum slushie, turquoise-colored grin, matching the hue of pool water perfectly, just may be an omen of that potential success.