Carlson Wraps up Legendary High School Swimming Career

For a swimmer as accomplished as Las Lomas High senior Kasey Carlson, Saturday's North Coast Section Championships could have easily been brushed aside as just another day at the pool.

But it wouldn't have been her style.

Carlson, who will depart for the University of Southern California in late June on a swimming scholarship, has cherished her time swimming with her friends at Las Lomas and the team atmosphere it has provided.

"I'll always remember being a Knight," she said. "I really enjoyed competing for Las Lomas and with all my friends on the team."

Before she was set to begin the final relay of her high school career on Saturday, she made a point to acknowledge to her sister, Taylor, a junior, that it would be the last time they'd be on a relay together.

"I told her, 'Hey, this going to be our last relay together,' and she looked at me and said 'yeah, whatever,'" Kasey said with a laugh. "It's been a really great experience being on the relay with her."

With Taylor swimming the third leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay and Kasey as the anchor, Las Lomas nearly set the NCS record with a time of 1 minute, 34.95 seconds, a hundredth behind the time Redwood of Larkspur set last year.

It wouldn't have come as a surprise if the Knights did set the record; Carlson has made a habit of re-writing the record books over the past few years.

As a junior at the NCS meet at the Concord Community Pool in 2009, Carlson set the national high school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.75. At the same meet, she set the NCS record in the 50-free and was part of Las Lomas' NCS record-setting team in the 200-yard medley relay in 2008.

Carlson didn't set any records at this year's meet, but was happy she took a more prominent role with the team's day-to-day activities this year.

"It was my first year as a team captain and I put more effort into high school swimming and the team involvement," Carlson said. "I still worked with my year-round team (the Walnut Creek AquaBears), but I made more (Las Lomas) practices and team functions. I had a lot of fun."

Her standout performance at the NCS meet last year was followed by a summer she'll never forget.

At the Conoco Phillips National Championships in Indianapolis, Carlson finished second behind Olympic Rebecca Soni in the 100-meter breast final to qualify for the FINA World Championships in Rome.

"I was an unknown, an underdog being so young," she said. "Rome was an eye-opening experience."

She didn't swim like an underdog.

In the prelims of the 50 meter breast on August 1, Carlson, at 17 years old, set the American record with a time of 30.34 and was 11 hundredths of a second behind the world record. She ended up sixth in the final (30.65) as three swimmers eclipsed the world record, including Soni, who lowered the American record to 30.11.

The 100-meter final went even better.

Carlson finished third behind Soni and Russia's Yuliya Efimova to claim the bronze medal.

"Doing so well in front of (thousands) of people gave me a lot of confidence," she said.

Having teammates like Michael Phelps and Soni didn't hurt either.

"They were really great," Carlson said. "They've all been on Olympic teams and we were all there competing for the United States, cheering each other on."

Based on her recent success, an Olympic future certainly seems possible, if not likely, but Carlson stopped short of calling the Olympics the only dream that mattered.

"I just want to keep improving," she said "We don't have those super suits anymore, so just improving my times is the goal. If I keep improving, but don't make the Olympics, I'll be content."

Carlson, who was born at the Walnut Creek Kaiser, will graduate from Las Lomas on June 11 and head to USC shortly thereafter, where she'll being training with the Trojan Swim Club.

"I think of it like I'm going to swim camp for the summer," she said. "I think I'll really enjoy the team aspect of college swimming, a lot like how I enjoyed swimming at Las Lomas."