By CHARLIE HUST
Competitive swimming is labeled as one of the toughest sports in which to train and compete at a high level.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Laura Carver of Slaughters. Not only does the 16-year-old compete at the highest level, she excels as a champion.
Carver earned a gold medal in the Kentucky USA Swimming Summer State Championship meet held in Elizabethtown, KY on July 24-27, topping the field in the 200 meter breaststroke for the 15-and-over girls’ division. She also finished second in the 100 meter breaststroke, fourth in the 400 meter individual medley and fourth in the 200 meter individual medley. She continued her very busy weekend with a seventh-placed finish in the 200 meter backstroke, eighth in the 1500 meter free style, eighth in the 800 meter free style and 12th in the 100 meter backstroke.
To top off the weekend, Carver participated in the three relay events, teaming with Jordan VanWinkle, Kate Hornaday and Katie Hampel to earn top three finishes in those events.
When the State meet was complete, Carver had captured the “High Point” award in the girls’ 15-and-over division for the State Championships. She also earned a trip to the National Club Swimming Association meet in August with her superb time in the 100 meter breaststroke.
Carver, the daughter of Keenan and Mary Carver, was been swimming competitively for the past seven years and has been training the past year with the Velocity Swim Club in Owensboro under the watchful eye of Coach Leslie Angermeier. Velocity fared quite well this year in the state meet, finishing sixth overall with five boys and five girls competing. That was the best finish of any team from western Kentucky.
“I’m so excited about winning my first state championship,” Carver stated. “All my hard work with Coach Leslie (Angermeier) swimming for Velocity this past year has really paid off.”
Carver got a jump-start to her summer success this spring by competing in the Kentucky USA Swimming Winter Championships meet in March with several top eight finishes. She also qualified and competed in the 2014 USA Swimming Sectional meet in Indianapolis which included swimmers from Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and several other surrounding states. The Slaughters teen finished in the top 32 in the 100 meter and 200 meter breaststroke events at the Sectional.
Carver, who is a junior in high school and a home school student, hopes to continue her swimming career and success at the collegiate level. Her grand parents are Don and Judy Carver of Hanson and Grant and Jean Hartman of Evansville, IN.