College Recruit Rankings Profile: Five-Star Rachel Naurath, Class of 2010

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 22. RACHEL Naurath, a five-star recruit from the Class of 2010, is next up in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings Profiles series. Naurath comes from Manakin Sabot, Va., and swims for NOVA of Virginia Aquatics. She also preps at Collegiate School.

Naurath maintains her profile in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings powered by Take Your Marks, and is a distance freestyler.

Naurath would have scored points for a team last year at the NCAA Division I Championships in the 1650-yard freestyle with her best time of 16:07.53. The performance would have finished in the B final points. Naurath also would have competed in the 200-yard fly (1:57.08) with a qualifying mark, as well as potentially the 500-yard free (4:44.09) and 400-yard IM (4:16.00) with B cuts in those events as well.

In long course competition, Naurath already has long course senior national cuts in the 200 free (2:02.10), 400 free (4:16.02), 800 free (8:44.88), 200 fly (2:14.34) and 400 IM (4:53.96).

Where and when did you start swimming?
I started swimming for my summer league team, CCV, when I was nine, and joined NOVA when I was 10. One of my summer league coaches suggested I join the team, and my cousin was also doing year round swimming so I thought I'd give it a try.

Who would you name as the most influential person and coach in your swimming career?
I definitely can't list a single person here; my family has been unbelievably supportive as I've made it through these past few years. I've missed a lot of family time and vacations, and they always have been there for me and helped me keep sane. My teammates are amazing – without them I would never have kept swimming this long. They push me every day in practice, and we all swim to help each other.

I have been extremely lucky with coaches all my time at NOVA. My current coach, Geoff Brown, always takes the time to explain techniques, yell at me whenever I'm going slow in practice, write creative practices every day (I don't think we have ever repeated a practice), and give some confusing and interesting speeches. He's also writing a book and runs before practice every morning…I'm not actually sure if he ever sleeps. He has helped me become a much more focused swimmer over the past two and a half ish years. I also have had great coaches along the way – David Schreck, Diane Cayce, Leigh Robbins, Brent St Pierre, Mark Kutz.

Walk us through a day of practice:
My all time favorite moment was definitely at the USA Youth Team meet in Vancouver last year. I got to know some awesome people, and though we really did not have much time together we really all blended well and bonded as a team. That really could not sound more cliché, but it's definitely true. Though I somehow managed to hurt my shoulder while at the three-day meet, I still had so much fun cheering everyone on and watching them swim fast. It was incredibly motivating and helped me get pumped to get back and train for juniors. My roommates were especially stellar, and I miss them a ton. It's awesome knowing people from the team who are both on my recruiting trips this year and on the teams I'm visiting!

Walk us through a day of practice:
Well, I wake up at 4:00 am every morning Monday-Friday (and 5:00 on Saturdays) and drive to NOVA. I usually arrive about 10 minutes early for our 4:30 practice, sit around for about 10 minutes until Geoff rolls in, then hop in the water. We do a general warm up, followed by a more intense swimming and kicking set with some extremely difficult intervals, then we usually do a few main sets, consisting mostly of distance free, best odd (fly), and IM. mornings are anywhere from 6800-8000, and afternoons are about the same distance. I do two to three doubles a week, normally on Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays from 4:30-6:30 pm. We have weights for 45 minutes after Monday and Wednesday doubles, and weights followed by running after Saturday practice.

What is your favorite set?
Adam Smith/Capitalism Sets

What is your least favorite set?
There are a few…8 x 400 IM off 5:15 test set, whenever we get punished with 18 x 200 flys, 5000 free

What are your short-term goals?
Mainly to find a college that fits me the best, has the best team, that will help me improve, etc., but also to train harder this winter than I did last season, drop time, and to have fun my senior year.

What are your long-term goals?
To live through senior year, graduate NOVA, to choose a college that is the best match for me, to have a successful NCSA meet in March, to not annihilate my shoulder in May again, hopefully to make a team at U.S. Open next summer, to win an NCAA Championship, then National Team, then Olympic Team?

What colleges are you interested in so far?
In no particular order – UVA, Florida, Princeton, Texas, Stanford

What has the recruiting process been like so far, now that you are allowed to be called by coaches?
It's been mostly great so far, stressful at times, but overall very enjoyable. I'm really having fun getting to know a ton of different coaches and exploring a lot of programs. I just really can't wait until I've made a decision and can finally relax…

Is there anything else interesting that you'd like our readers to know about you?
I'm obsessed with True Blood, LOST, SNL, the Discovery Channel, Saved by the Bell, anything tacky on VH1, and naps. I don't have any interesting talents besides swimming.

RECRUITS: To make sure we have the most updated information on your recruiting, and to earn the highest star ranking you deserve, please either create a new profile, or request to take over your admin-created account in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings powered by Take Your Marks. Then make sure to update your profile with your top times. Click here for information on how to do so.

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