Lauren McNamara created a home with Flat Rock swimming for an epic high school career
FLAT ROCK – Flat Rock didn’t have a swimming team when Lauren McNamara was preparing to launch her high school career.
She could have looked for somewhere else to swim, but that wouldn’t be the same. She wanted to swim for her school and with her friends.
So, the middle schooler took matters into her own hands.
With the help of her parents, McNamara arranged to meet with the Flat Rock Board of Education. The sixth grader made her case.
And the board listened.
A swim program was established at Flat Rock, and McNamara has made the school board and the community proud.
She capped her amazing career by winning Division 3 state championships in the individual medley and butterfly. It was her third straight state title in the butterfly, giving her a total of four state crowns in her career.
Today, she makes more history.
McNamara has been selected by The Monroe News sports staff as the Monroe County Region Girls Swimmer of the Year. It’s the fourth straight season she has captured the award, joining Madelyn Cislo of Milan (2014-17) as the only four-time winner.
“It’s all really exciting,” McNamara said. “I am really just happy to be able to do it for my school and community. My mom (Flat Rock coach Shannon McNamara) always tells me to make everyone proud. I am so happy to do that.”
She would not have been able to do it, if she hadn’t put her anxieties aside and stepped in front of the school board.
“We were talking about that at our banquet,” she said. “It’s crazy to think about how much the program has grown.”
That growth was shown when McNamara combined with Riley Chevelaier, Sophia Chan and her younger sister Aileen McNamara to take 14th in the 200-yard freestyle and 18th in the medley relay in the state finals.
Flat Rock had never qualified a relay for state before.
Forget about the state titles. McNamara said the relays were the highlight of her senior year.
“That was so awesome,” she said. “The most exciting thing was to bring those relays to state and compete with my sister. It was really a special experience to do it with them.”
The state meet also was special for McNamara individually, as the IM final came down to a clash of styles.
McNamara knew she would have to build a big lead in the opening leg – the butterfly – to hold off backstroke specialist Julijana Jelic of Broomfield Hills Cransbrook Kingswood and breaststroke stalwart Scarlet Maison of Standish-Sterling.
“I knew it would be a very close race,’ McNamara said. “I had a lot of adrenalin in the finals. I wanted to do the best I could. My competitors next to me were so nice and sweet. It was very good competition.”
McNamara finished two seconds ahead of Jelic with a time of 2:05.59. Maison took third in 2:09.23.
McNamara credited the IM title to the extra work with assistant coach Tim Skowronski on the backstroke and breaststroke.
Following the win in the IM, McNamara didn’t have a lot of time to get ready for her signature race. Fellow Huron League swimmer Kiera Luhrs of Milan gave her a great battle, but McNamara was able to prevail in 56.68 for a third consecutive championship.
She said she survived on pure adrenalin. She could feel the toll the IM took on her body in the warm-down pool after the race.
“That race was really stressful,” she said. “I kept assuring myself that everything was OK. It was my last meet as a Flat Rock swimmer. I just had to push through it.”
Now that her high school career is over, McNamara will set her sights on Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.
“They have a really nice, family feel to the team,” she said. ”I really enjoyed the coaches. I felt that’s where I belonged.”
But it means leaving her beloved Flat Rock.
“It’s five hours away,” she said. “That’s not too bad. I felt like I wanted to take the opportunity to move out of state if I had it. It will be different, but I am excited about the new experience.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Flat Rock's Lauren McNamara named Swimmer of Year again
