{"id":335111,"date":"2018-10-28T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=335111"},"modified":"2019-01-25T11:11:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T18:11:22","slug":"katie-drabot-not-worried-about-labels-focused-on-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/katie-drabot-not-worried-about-labels-focused-on-the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Drabot Not Worried About Labels, Focused on the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

Swimmers often define themselves by the events that they swim. \u201cI\u2019m a backstroker,\u201d one might say to another, who would then reply, \u201cI\u2019m a breaststroker,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a 400 IMer.\u201d But throughout her swimming life, Katie Drabot<\/strong> has had a hard time fitting into one of those categories.<\/p>\n

Drabot\u2019s first state cut came in the 100 backstroke. For a short time after that, she considered butterfly her best event. By the time she started high school, IM and breaststroke were her specialties. Eventually, she settled into freestyle, and coming out of high school in Wisconsin and entering Stanford, she firmly considered herself a mid-distance freestyler.<\/p>\n

But as a sophomore, in a goal meeting with Cardinal coach Greg<\/strong> Meehan<\/strong>, Drabot suggested that she could train for and maybe compete in the 200 fly\u2014not an event that swimmers typically beg to swim, but Drabot had a compelling reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like training fly, but I also wanted to get out of the mile,\u201d Drabot said. \u201cWhile nobody really wants to do the 200 fly, I would prefer doing the 200 fly over the mile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needing an event for Drabot to swim on the final day of the Pac-12 and NCAA championships (to go along with the 500 free and 200 free earlier in the meet), Meehan had considered the 1650 free the logical choice. It took some convincing to change his mind, but after a couple fast swims in the 200 fly in dual meet action, Drabot got her wish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also wanted to see and explore a different event that I thought I could excel in,\u201d she said. \u201cI have that endurance background with training a little bit of distance, and I also enjoy training fly, so I thought it was a good balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"katie-drabot-indianapolis-pro-swim-series\"

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

When racing fly, Drabot felt a different kind of pressure than in freestyle events due to her relative inexperience. There were plenty of little details to consider\u2014in technique, for instance\u2014but fewer expectations and less self-comparisons attached to the event. She swam the 200 fly with freshness and vigor.<\/p>\n

Turns out, she was one of the best in the country. Who knew? Certainly not Meehan or even Drabot.<\/p>\n

At the Pac-12 championships in late February, Drabot finished third in the 200 fly. Three weeks later at the NCAA championships, Drabot finished second behind teammate Ella<\/strong> Eastin<\/strong>, her time of 1:51.73 making her the eighth-fastest performer in history in the yards version of the event.<\/p>\n

And when Drabot swam her first long course meet of the season, the 200 fly was on the program. She was without a long course entry time at the TYR Pro Swim Series Indianapolis, and she ended up swimming a time of 2:08.38 in prelims before scratching the final. Her time ended up as the fastest of the day, and it was faster than any American other than Hali Flickinger<\/strong> had swum in the entirety of 2017.<\/p>\n

She wouldn\u2019t swim the race again before U.S. Nationals in late July, but Drabot, who had never finished higher than seventh in one of her signature freestyle races at Nationals, arrived at that meet as a top three seed in the 200 fly. It was still a new, fun, different event, and that kept the pressure off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a little bit of nerves, but I think I was able to channel that more into excitement,\u201d she said. \u201cI personally really like the 200 fly long course. I know it scares some people. I think I channel those nerves and that feeling of being scared just into excitement to pump me up for that race and that swim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drabot thought back to one of the shirts Stanford had worn during the college season, with a phrase written on the back: \u201cSwim for the little girl inside of you.\u201d It was a reminder to keep it simple and not worry about the pressure and strings attached to one big race or another\u2014to swim with freedom and fluidity.<\/p>\n

\"katie-drabot-\"

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

In the 200 fly final at Nationals, Drabot did just that\u2014and she earned herself a spot on Team USA at the Pan Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n

She finished second behind Flickinger at Nationals in 2:07.18, and at the Pan Pacs in Tokyo, she earned bronze in the 200 fly. Those two swims secured her spot to swim the event at next year\u2019s World Championships.<\/p>\n

After that, Drabot\u2019s career trajectory is different\u2014she knows that she will compete against the best 200 flyers in the world next summer in South Korea and that she has improved her stock as a challenger for a spot on the 2020 Olympic team. Instead of heading to Olympic Trials as one of a myriad of challengers for a top-six finish in the 200 free, she is likely to be one of the top seeds in an event with far less depth.<\/p>\n

Drabot won\u2019t let herself think that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now I\u2019m just trying to live in the moment and just be present with the people in my life right now and the training,\u201d she said, \u201cLong-term, obviously there\u2019s Trials in 2020. I think the majority of the swimming population just wants to make that team. I\u2019m not having a hard time with it, but just making Pan Pacs and Worlds is just so new and surreal to me.<\/p>\n

\u201c2020, it\u2019s still on the table and it\u2019s still something that I\u2019m setting my goals for, but it\u2019s also something that I\u2019m keeping in the back of my mind as I train and work towards Worlds this summer and NCAAs. It is something that I kind of have my sights on, but I want to keep it low-pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world now sees Drabot as a butterflyer first, but she doesn\u2019t necessarily think that way. She still trains predominantly freestyle, with some IM work mixed in.<\/p>\n

Her swimming career is not about any labels. It\u2019s about keeping the racing fresh and exciting and living in the moment.<\/p>\n

\n

More about Katie Drabot:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a swimmer, what makes you tick? What is your primary motivation on a daily basis and in the big picture?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

“I think just setting my goals in the end is just something that motivates me day in, day out, and I think having such a strong group of girls around me is very motivating. Having 22 girls that are all very strong in what they do just really is very inspirational. It\u2019s something that pushes you to want to be as good as them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look up to every single one of them as an inspiration for what they do in the pool and what they do in the classroom and how they are able to balance that. That\u2019s something that\u2019s very, very motivating to me. I\u2019ve definitely noticed that when I go home for breaks, it\u2019s hard to motivate myself because I don\u2019t have those girls around me, and I think that says a lot about our team and our team dynamic. It\u2019s a driving force for why we\u2019re so successful in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think having these big goals, these goals that almost scare me, to kind of use them as motivation instead of having them scare me and keep them in the front of my mind when I\u2019m practicing instead of thinking about how I might feel at the end of the race. I kind of put myself in that situation to push myself through those hard practices. It\u2019s both a teammate thing and a big-picture, end-of-season, end-of-career goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did that happen? When you start swimming, you don\u2019t think of those very specific things you want to achieve. How did you become very goal-oriented, goal-driven when you were younger?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been very competitive, whether it be in school or in the pool. Especially growing up as the third child, I had my older siblings that I would always look up to but also want to compete with. I was always that very competitive child in whatever it may be. Just growing up, I always looked at the sport as something of a competitive nature and always wanting to get my hand on the wall first, like I still do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger, it was always for the fun of it. Once I started taking things more serious is when I actually started setting goals for myself. I think a lot of it was unexpected in terms of my achievements at a young age\u2014like making Nationals and that type of thing. I just always wanted the next-best thing, and I think that came with my competitive nature that I\u2019ve always had. I\u2019ve always wanted to check the next box, open one door and see what the next door was that I could open. I think that\u2019s just kind of how I\u2019ve always been with the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Pan Pacs, you had less experience in international racing, but you had been to Short Course Worlds and World University Games. What value did that have as you attacked Pan Pacs, which is considered a bigger deal from a U.S. perspective?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI think any international experience is good, and the more international meets you swim in, it gives you a little bit more confidence and a little bit better understanding of what to expect. I definitely think that having previous experience kind of helped with the new experience and the new level that this meet was. I tried to put everything into its simplest terms\u2014it\u2019s just another swim meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yeah, the competition may be a lot stronger, but it\u2019s one of those things where you just want to have a lot of confidence in yourself and in your training, just go out there and race and do what we\u2019ve been doing for the past 14 years. I think also representing the U.S. gives you this huge sense of pride that with every race, you want to go out there and give it your best because you\u2019re competing for something that\u2019s so much bigger than yourself. I think just keeping things simple and keeping things relaxed is all you can really do at those competitions. Everybody\u2019s going to be nervous, but it\u2019s just who can channel those nerves the best and use it to their advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was it like the first time you met Katie Ledecky?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"katie-ledecky-katherine-drabot-\"

Drabot with Katie Ledecky at the NCAA championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think we just had a normal interaction. I want to say the first official time was in Mesa before my freshman year. I think she said \u2018hi\u2019 or \u2018good luck\u2019 to me before a race. We obviously knew each other because we would be coming in with the same class. I think with being around these athletes so much, it\u2019s something that really doesn\u2019t surprise me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure if I saw some celebrity, I would react the same way people around campus do to Katie, but I think just having that exposure to these top athletes and racing them, I don\u2019t think too much of it. I like to think of myself as one of them. While, no, I don\u2019t have the gold medals and the accomplishments that she does, she\u2019s just another person. She\u2019s very humble. I think it was just a normal interaction. I\u2019m sure deep down I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh\u2014that\u2019s so cool,\u2019 but the exposure to all these people has made it something that doesn\u2019t really phase me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going into NCAAs, you guys will lose Katie and Simone (Manuel). Aside from the points, what are the challenges of being on an NCAA team that loses their presence?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s really a challenge because they\u2019re still around the pool deck. While, yes, we did lose some very strong swimmers, we also have a very strong incoming class, so I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever looked at it as a challenge in terms of a negative thing but more so a challenge in terms of, \u2018Can we still have the level of success we did with them on the team?\u2019 Everybody\u2019s going to step up this year. Everybody\u2019s going to fill their shoes in one way or another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it may not be to the same level, I think it\u2019s just something different a new overall challenge for our team. I think we\u2019re all rising to the occasion and really working hard day in and day out. They were a great addition to our team, but we also have so many other amazing swimmers that I don\u2019t think\u2014it wasn\u2019t ever a thing where it was the Katie and Simone show. Everybody brought something\u2014we had Ally<\/strong> (Howe<\/strong>) and Janet<\/strong> (Hu<\/strong>) and Ella (Eastin), and really everybody on the team brought something. It\u2019s a whole team effort. We\u2019re just dealing with the challenge of filling their shoes, but I think everybody is doing a great job stepping up and rising to the occasion.<\/p>\n

What are your plans post-swimming? What do you want to do when you grow up?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019m currently studying human biology so that I can become a physician\u2019s assistant.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s pretty intense. What\u2019s most intriguing to you about that?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"greg-meehan-\"

Drabot with Stanford coach Greg Meehan — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think growing up, I\u2019ve always kind of had a passion for health care, and in terms of school, I was always very into the math and sciences as opposed to the history or reading or writing. I always knew that I wanted to do something with health care, and I think as I\u2019ve grown up, I\u2019ve kind of seen the different paths that I could take with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always known that I never really wanted to be a doctor or surgeon or anything to that extent. Once my older sister went to college, we\u2019ve always been very similar in terms of our interests. She, right now, is at PA school. We were discussing career paths, and she was telling me a lot about being a physician\u2019s assistant. I looked into it. Once she told me about it, it was something that was right down the path that I had always wanted\u2014a step above a nurse but a step below a doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just always wanted to help people and work with people. You always follow in your older sibling\u2019s footsteps, but I never thought it would be to this extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your big outside-the-pool interests?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very into nature. I love seeing sunrises and sunsets. This summer, we really tried to go out\u2014when we weren\u2019t exhausted by practice or taking a nap or doing school work, our team really tried to get outdoors. We went to the beach a couple times and went hiking. I think just being out in nature, that\u2019s a hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also a big animal lover\u2014that\u2019s another thing. I was roommates with Allie Szekely<\/strong> this summer, and there were multiple times when we would just go to Petco or PetSmart or the humane society just to play with animals. Just mainly being out in nature and animals. I like art, but I\u2019m not very good at it. I like being artsy, to the best extent that I can be. Other than that, I\u2019m mostly in school or training, so there isn\u2019t a lot of time for those extra hobbies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder. Swimmers often define themselves by the events that they swim. \u201cI\u2019m a backstroker,\u201d one might say to another, who would then reply, \u201cI\u2019m a breaststroker,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":335112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,17,61052,7],"tags":[73141,33203,36913,34417,27847,26466,59679,41703,25031,56805,25400,327],"class_list":["post-335111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-college","category-commentary","category-morning-splash","category-usa","tag-2019-ncaa-division-i-womens-swimming-and-diving-championships","tag-allie-szekely","tag-ally-howe","tag-ella-eastin","tag-greg-meehan","tag-janet-hu","tag-journalist-david-rieder","tag-katie-drabot","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-pac-12-swimming","tag-simone-manuel","tag-stanford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nKatie Drabot Not Worried About Labels, Focused on the Present<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sunday Q&A: Katie Drabot began swimming the 200 fly on a whim, and as she embraced the exciting new event, she became one of the country's best.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/katie-drabot-not-worried-about-labels-focused-on-the-present\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Katie Drabot Not Worried About Labels, Focused on the Present\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sunday Q&A: Katie Drabot began swimming the 200 fly on a whim, and as she embraced the exciting new event, she became one of the country's best.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/katie-drabot-not-worried-about-labels-focused-on-the-present\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-28T14:00:27+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T18:11:22+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/katie-drabot-2018-wncaa.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - 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