Freshman Lacey Locke is being noticed by colleges when she hasn’t even begun swimming for CHS

By Alex Mackall and Reuben Warshawsky
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For the past 12 years of her life, swimmer and freshman Lacey Locke has practiced hard to become a strong swimmer top-ranked swimming colleges would be interested in.

Now, Locke is one of the most highly recruited athletes here, though she has yet to swim her first meet as a Greyhound.

Locke said, “I feel honored (colleges have already expressed interest in me.) I worked hard to get to this point; it hasn’t been given to me.”

Over the past couple of years, colleges have begun to recruit athletes earlier and earlier. A decade ago, recruiting an athlete out of middle school would have been unheard of. Presently, it is commonplace for colleges to express interest in an athlete as early as their freshman year in high school.

In fact, this year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Legislative Council lowered the grade-level age of ‘’recruitable’’ athletes from ninth to seventh. The athletes do not seem to mind, as in several instances, eighth-graders have committed to collegiate athletic powerhouses.

According to Athletics Director Jim Inskeep, football and swimming are the sports that have the most collegiate opportunities. Without question, colleges are certainly interested in Locke swimming for their school. Already, Indiana University has contacted Locke.

Swimming Head Coach Chris Plumb said, “Lacey, her family and I have not discussed recruiting as of yet and no collegiate coach has spoken to me about her. The Carmel Swim Club and Carmel High School swimming has a rich tradition of sending swimmers to excellent academic and swimming schools, and I do anticipate Lacey continuing this tradition.”

Colleges are recruiting younger athletes because of their impressive achievements. Locke’s achievements alone display the talent that is being noticed by recruiters.

She has won best individual medley swimmer three times and female athlete of the year twice, both for Carmel Swim Club. On top of these honors, Locke has also been named the top performer in Indiana four times, she has won five state high-point awards and she also attended the Junior Nationals at the age of 13, which is young compared to other invited athletes.

According to Locke, colleges have probably noticed her because of Carmel’s swim program. “Carmel is obviously a well-known club,” Locke said. “(College scouts) know I practice hard just because I’m with Carmel. They know there are rules I have to follow at Carmel and they know it’s a good program. Coaches probably talk about not only me, but other Carmel swimmers as well.”

Today, even high schools are under question for recruiting athletes too early and illegally. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that high schools cannot recruit middle-school athletes. Unanimously, the court said, “Hard-sell tactics directed at middle school students could lead to exploitation, distort competition between high school teams and foster an environment in which athletics are prized more highly than academics.”

As for Locke, she said her inspiration to swim didn’t come from recruitment, but from her parents. Locke’s mother always encouraged her, when she was younger, to jump in their backyard pool and swim a lap every time she had a few spare minutes.

However, Locke, who swam for the Smokey Row neighborhood team for four years and Carmel Swim Club for six years before CHS, said she first truly became interested in swimming when she started participating on her neighborhood team.

“I really liked the competition, and it made me want to continue swimming,” Locke said. Locke now swims the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, 200 and 400-meter individual medley and the 50-meter freestyle for Carmel Swim Club and for this school.

Locke said she is also interested in making it to the Olympic Trials for the 2012 Summer Olympics. “I’ve talked about it and thought about it, and I think it is reachable if I am really dedicated,” Locke said.

Regarding her future, Locke said, “I will swim in college, but I will pick a college for the college, not because they have a good swim team.”