Senior Katie Fast has been swimming for 13 years following in the wake of her three sisters, however this year, she made a name for herself.
The Fast’s are no strangers to the school when it comes to succeeding in swimming. Sister Lauren attended state in 2007 and 2008 for relays and sister Jaimie attended state in 2008 for relay and 2010 for 100 back.
“Sophomore year after conference at practice the team was waiting for results to see who made state. My coach came and told me I made the 100 freestyle and then the 100 backstroke. I was over the moon. I was the first girl since my sister four years prior,” Fast said.
Fast then went on to go to state in both her junior and senior years.
On Friday, February 5, Fast broke the 100 backstroke at a home swim meet. The record was set in 1985 and held by Heidi Kooy with a time of 1:04.05. Fast broke the record with a time of 1:03.14.
“It was a lot of team moral this year. Everyone is swimming personal bests and getting secondary times. When my teammates excel it just pushes me to be better and raises the bar overall,” Fast said.
Fast has been dealing with shoulder and rotator cuff problems for the past few years and decided once she cut time at Westside for the first time in two years she’d focus on backstroke.
“I think once I finally took a step back from the event I could relax and succeed in it. Once I realized I could do better I started training backstroke a bit more and broke the record,” Fast said.
