Reh focuses on PRs, not opponents in dominating senior season

Don't swim against your competition. Swim against your time — which is the advice most coaches give their swimmers.

Emily Reh took that advice all the way to the state swimming championships this year.

Reh set personal best marks at state in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle. Those performances helped the Gila Ridge senior earn the Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club 2010 All-Region Girls Swimmer of the Year.

Reh took sixth in the 50 free in 24.42 seconds, improving on her Gila Valley Region record time of 24.62. She also took 11th in the 100 free, topping her time GVR record of 53.52 by .11 off a second.

“In past years, I've always gone against other people,” Reh said. “But since there's not very many people here in Yuma that were — I don't want to sound mean — at my level, it was hard going against my own times.”

Gila Ridge coach Heather LaVin said Reh exemplified why coaches advise swimmers to swim against their own times.

“She knew before that state meet. Instead of worrying about being No. 1 or No. 2 or being at the top, she just wanted the best for herself,” LaVin said. “She ended up with the fastest time she ever swam. We knew she was a winner for herself.”

Aside from her individual performance at regionals, Reh said she was happy the Hawks, third in the region the year before, won the tournament for the first time in school history.

“That's something I've been wanting since freshman year,” Reh said. “This year has been really great, really fun. I'm going to miss everybody. It was so great to see all the girls so excited just because we won.”

LaVin said that team-first attitude is not surprising.

“She's very competitive,” LaVin said. “But not only is she a great swimmer, she's a great person in general. She's a great friend to all the members of the team. She's a great team captain.”

Reh is currently weighing her college options. She said she visited Northern Arizona last month but is also looking at Limestone College in South Carolina. Myriah Frabasilio, a former Yuma High swimming star, competes for the Saints, a NCAA Division II program.

Whatever the future holds, Reh is happy how her final prep swim meet turned out.

“I was quite proud of the placing I took at state considering I matched up with some of the best schools in Arizona,” Reh said. “I wish I could have gone a little faster, but I'm definitely happy with my times. It's good to know all that hard work paid off.”