Sisters swimmer is state champ

Taylor Tucker 11, represented her hometown of Sisters well over the weekend, at the 2008 Oregon Speedo Long Course State Championship held at the Amazon Pool Complex in Eugene.

More than 1,200 swimmers and 40 USA swim teams from Oregon and southern Washington participated in the four-day meet.

Tucker, who swims for the Bend Swim Club, finished in the Top 8 of all six events she entered in the meet, including winning the state championship in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:16.24, for girls in her age group.

Tucker dropped more than a second from her morning's best preliminary time (1:17.74) to win the race coming from behind in the last 25 meters against previous year champions, MacKenzie Rumrill of the Salem Bearcats and Brianna Dyrdahl of the Lake Oswego Swim Club.

Rumrill had beaten Tucker in last year's championship finals by 0:00.07. After the race, Tucker said "this feels amazing after losing to these girls the last two years. I knew I was a little bit behind and so I just tried to 'bring it' as hard as I could about mid-pool on the way back, and it worked."

Tucker's time in the race is a USA Swimming national "AAA" time, qualifying her to represent her club, and Oregon Swimming, at the Western Age Group Sectional Championships in Seattle this winter, against swimmers from the other western states and Hawaii.

During the meet, Tucker also placed fourth in the 50-meter backstroke (37.47); sixth in the 400-meter freestyle (5:17.21); seventh in the 200-meter freestyle (2:34.00); and eighth in the 200-meter individual medley (2:55.08).

Tucker works out for about two hours per day, four days a week, at the Juniper Pool in Bend and Sisters Athletic Club.