Lily Kohler, a junior at Mehlville High School, has taken home the gold. Kohler scored first in the 100-yard breaststroke event at this year’s swimming state championship, which took place on Feb. 19-20 in St. Peters, with a time of 1:05.60 — her personal best.
“I got out of the water, and I was like, ‘That was probably one of the best races I’ve ever had,’” Kohler said. “Everything worked. All the things I wanted to do and make sure I did right, they happened. All the girls I was racing against were so sweet, and we were all just there to race and do well. The atmosphere was really good. I had a lot of fun.”
Kohler was the only swimmer from Mehlville to make her way to state, though the annual competition is a familiar game for the junior. She attended state her freshman and sophomore years, scoring fifth place in both the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle her freshman year. The next year, her sophomore year, she scored ninth in the 200-yard individual medley and second in the 500-yard freestyle.
This year was Kohler’s first time swimming the 100-yard breaststroke at the state level, though she swims that event “a lot” with her club team. She said it was fun to swim the event at state, and she didn’t feel like she had much pressure on herself.
“I always get a little nervous for big meets like this, but I was honestly really excited to swim the 100-yard (breastroke), just because it was different,” Kohler said. “And, I mean, it worked out pretty well.”
For the 100-yard breaststroke, Kohler says it was important for her to have a strong start, since she knew that some of the other girls could get a farther start than her. She also emphasized making fast turns on the wall, which she says is an area where she excels.
Kohler’s parents, siblings and grandparents attended the state competition to cheer her on. Kohler says they went out to lunch afterward to celebrate, and only then did the reality of winning kick in.
“When I touched the wall and looked up, and I was first … it was surreal,” Kohler said. “It didn’t sink in until I was gone. I was at lunch with my family, and I was like, ‘Wow! I really did that!’”
Kohler also raced in the 200-yard individual medley at this year’s state competition, where she scored third place with a time of 2:09.01. It was a significant jump in scoring for Kohler, who placed ninth in the same event last year as a sophomore.
Kohler says the 200-yard individual medley — an event that features every swimming stroke — is an exhausting race, because swimmers are using more muscles than the breaststroke. She ensured she had a fast butterfly, as she says she’s slower on the backstroke portion and didn’t want to “get buried” for that second half of the race. She maintained pace with the other swimmers and emphasized a fast turn from her backstroke into her breaststroke, before finishing strong with freestyle.
In this year’s individual medley, Kohler got to compete against peers she’s been “racing against (her) whole life” through her club swim team.
“When I touched and saw my time — I didn’t do my personal best, but I was still proud of myself,” Kohler said. “I felt like I swam the race as best as I could.”
