Claire Adams Figuring Things Out Just in Time for Olympic Year

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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By David Rieder

Claire Adams wasn’t even seeded in the top-ten when she arrived at U.S. Nationals in San Antonio last August. A week later, she was a household name.

On the second day of that meet, Adams lowered her personal best time in the 100 backstroke from 1:01.12 down to 59.58 to win her first National title. She did it again two days later, dropping almost three seconds in the 200 back and notching her second victory of the week in 2:09.44.

At the time, the National titles and personal bests were just bonuses since her primary focus at that meet had been qualifying for the Junior World Championships—which she did. But Adams admits that even though she had swum in several big national meets before—she made her Olympic Trials debut in 2012 at the age of 13—this was the first where she arrived feeling prepared to compete for titles.

“I just felt confident in what I was doing. Warming up I felt confident. Walking around, something was different in the way that I was thinking,” Adams said. “I accepted the fact that I belonged there, that that was where I was supposed to be.”

Carmel Swim Club associate head coach Ian Murray also noticed the changes in Adams’ mindset and demeanor in the lead-up to the meet.

“Training-wise and preparation-wise she had been in a very good spot for a while, and we were seeing things in practice that led us to believe she could perform on that level,” Murray said. “But ultimately it’s going to happen when the athlete decides it’s going to happen. She had some big breakthroughs confidence-wise last summer and began to believe in her ability a lot more, and obviously it translated to some great swims in San Antonio.”

After Nationals, Adams headed directly to Singapore for the Junior World Championships. Although she could not quite match her times from a few weeks earlier, Adams did pick up a silver medal in the 100 back.

Adams had previously competed at Junior Pan Pacs, but a full-scale international meet complete with semifinals was completely new to her.

“Going to the ready room was different,” Adams said. “All the little quirks that come with international experience—it was mainly a learning experience really.”

Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation

Adams finally returned to Carmel, Ind., after a whirlwind August with much-improved best times, some considerable hardware and valuable international racing experience. But all that aside, she had earned her first-ever National Team selection. Even if she did not realize quite how much at the time, Adams’ swimming career was about to take off.

In late September, Adams committed to swim for the University of Texas and head coach Carol Capitani, and then she immediately shifted her focus towards Olympic Trials. Shortly thereafter she received her first National Team assignment: the Duel in the Pool, which was to be held at the quite-familiar IUPUI Natatorium, a mere half hour’s drive from Carmel.

“It was so normal for me,” Adams said. “It was like, ‘Oh, I swim high school state here. It’s still just a pool.’”

What was not so normal, of course, was having the entire National Team over to her house for dinner just days before the meet. Also new to Adams were the curtains and spotlights that certainly had not been in place for the Fall Frenzy six weeks earlier.

Adams ended up finishing third in the 100 back and fourth in the 200 back at the Duel, but once again the results were not nearly as important as the experience gained.

“I’m really grateful I got to have that as my first experience,” Adams said. “The people I swam with on the team were really supportive and welcoming, and they helped me figure out if I had any questions about things, when I needed to be there and things like that.”

Up next on Adams’ schedule was a meet without any of her fellow National Team members and one which offered little in the way of international-caliber racing experience.

But Indiana’s high school state meet still mattered very much to Adams, especially with Carmel going for—and eventually winning—its 30th straight state title.

“It’s a community thing, and it’s a family thing,” Adams said. “There’s so much tradition, especially at Carmel, behind what we do and why we do it. [We’re] representing not just our year of athletes, but the 30 years’ that have come before us.”

The IUPUI Natatorium was not quite as decked out for high school state as it had been for the Duel in the Pool, but Adams and her family still hosted a team dinner for her high school teammates just like they had for the National Team.

Even after Nationals, Junior Worlds and Duel in the Pool, the results of that championship meant just as much to Adams as had any of the others.

“High school swimming, honestly, it’s as intense as a national meet,” Adams said. “It’s taken so seriously, especially in Indiana. But at the same time it’s so, so much fun because your teammates are in the stands, and they dress up for themes, and you get to wear your state shirts that the seniors picked out.”

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Adams swam best times on her way to wins in the 100 free and 100 back at State, but more important than the times were the big points she earned for her team. She especially relished the experience of swimming with her teammates in that unique and intense environment one last time.

Still, the ultimate prize of Olympic Trials remained firmly in sight.

“We don’t really worry about the high school championship. We don’t talk about the streak that often,” Adams said. “We tapered, but at the same time with the focus of the summer in mind.”

Murray recognizes how important high school state is to all of his swimmers and to the Indiana swimming community as a whole, but he knew the focus for Adams had to be on her long-term goals.

“She was mature enough to handle the fact that we weren’t going to fully prepare her for [the high school state] meet or Winter Nationals, or Duel in the Pool for that matter,” Murray said. “She’s gotten a lot better at being very performance-minded, but she’s also very process-driven. She can understand where she needs to be at x, y and z on the plan and not be overwhelmed by all the other things that are going on.”

Understanding the process and embracing her goals have helped keep Adams focused even with the distractions of her recently-completed senior year in plain sight. She credits her teammate in Carmel’s High Performance group for keeping her on task.

“We adopt the attitude of, ‘We’re the highest performing group, so whatever we’re doing we need to do to the best of our abilities,’” Adams said. “Always showing up to practice on time and full attendance and things like that.”

She admits to occasionally checking out what sort of times her rivals post but tries to avoid talking too much about the competition, preferring to stay focused on her own efforts in practice and in races.

Adams most recently raced at the Arena Pro Swim meet in Charlotte, where she put up a 1:01.56 in the 100 back and clocked 2:14.40 in a 200 back swim-off. She admits to being pleased with those efforts but hopes to swim a bit faster when she again makes the quick drive to Indianapolis for this weekend’s Arena Pro Swim Series finale, her final tune-up before Olympic Trials.

Murray thinks Adams will be ready to swim fast in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events at Olympic Trials, but the current seedings suggest the 100 will be her best shot at a top-two finish. She is seeded third in the 100 back—just two tenths of a second behind second seed Missy Franklin—and seventh in the 200 back.

“If she goes out in 28 seconds, I’m going to feel pretty good about what she can do in the 100-meter backstroke,” Murray said. “I certainly think she can close with any of them in the field.”

When she arrives in Omaha later this month for Trials, Adams will be prepared physically, having put in the hard work and mastered her race plans. But just as importantly, she won’t let the moment be too big for her.

She has become comfortable on the biggest of stages, especially after swimming alongside Franklin and many of the best swimmers in the world at Duel in the Pool.

“You look at them and think ‘Oh wow, they’re so fast,’” Adams said, “but then you’re standing right next to them, so you think, ‘Okay, I’m at the same level they are. I can be just as fast as they can.’”

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