Girls Swimming | Freshman flash keeping Ballard title hopes afloat

The alarm goes off at 4:20 a.m., and it takes everything in Annemarie Thayer not to hit snooze a couple of times.

But she knows that 20 minutes later, she has to be in a pool for a morning club-swimming practice, the start of a day that seems exhausting to her classmates, but not to Thayer.

It's a difficult regimen, with three practices on most weekdays, not to mention classes. But it's helped Thayer become one of the state's fastest swimmers as a freshman.

Thayer attends King's High School in Shoreline but swims for Ballard because King's doesn't have a team. She could leave this weekend's state swim meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way with at least one gold medal.

"She has to be one of the best swimmers in the state, period," Ballard coach Carlos Palacian said. "And she's only a freshman."

At the Sea-King 4A District meet on Saturday, Thayer won the 100-yard backstroke in 56.84 seconds, beating defending state champion Megan Caylor of Inglemoor.

Caylor, a senior, was the only swimmer at last year's state meet to break one minute in the event, winning in 58.34 seconds. That's a time Thayer already is beating.

"She swam that fast at the first meet," Palacian said. "There's been no letdown. She's very, very consistent."

Thayer is well-rounded, too. She qualified for state in each of the eight individual events. She'll swim the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and two relays for Ballard.

When she steps to the edge of the pool in Friday's preliminaries, Thayer won't be a total stranger to the state meet. She has been a spectator the last two years, anxiously waiting her turn.

She won't be a stranger to most of her competitors, either. She has been swimming against the state's best for years in club swimming. That includes Caylor, who has recently been a formidable rival in the backstroke.

"We're definitely neck-and-neck," Thayer said.

Less than two years ago, her club coach recognized how much Thayer's times had improved in the backstroke, which at the time was Thayer's least favorite stroke.

But her coach convinced her she could become dominant in the backstroke. Since then, it's become her focus.

Her excellence didn't escape Palacian last year.

"Girls who are that fast, you know who they are," he said. "She lives closest to Ballard, so we were hoping that she would actually do high-school swimming."

She doesn't go to school with her Ballard teammates, but she has become part of a team that could contend for the team title. The Beavers, who finished second last year, can expect competition from Garfield, which won the district meet, and Inglemoor, the three-time defending state champions.

"Everyone's really pumped," Thayer said. "We've been talking about this for like forever."

Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com