Water Polo, Swimming
Favorite athlete: Don’t have one in particular
Favorite team: Don’t have one in particular
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being a part of both North Penn’s swimming state championship team senior year and their state championship water polo team my freshman, junior and senior years.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Probably as a freshman having to roll the cooler around on deck at tournaments and running into something so the drinks and ice go everywhere.
Music on iPod: Disney
Future plans: Attend St. Francis University to study Exercise Physiology and Physical Therapy. Also continue both my swimming and water polo careers.
One goal before turning 30: To have found myself on a path of interest I enjoy and can carry out for the rest of my life.
One thing people don’t know about me: If I am not in a pool somewhere, I am baking lots and lots of cookies, brownies and cakes.
By GORDON GLANTZ
It was one thing to be presumed as the frontrunner to win the PIAA Class AAA state swimming title, and quite another to do it.
Last week – at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. – the Maidens fulfilled their destiny by out-performing what was a rapid collection of contenders to return home with the school’s first state crown in 26 years.
A day later, senior Aimee Baur was still savoring the moment.
“We did have that as a goal,” said Baur, a team captain. “After last year, people said, ‘You guys are the favorites for next year.’ They realized how much depth we had.”
“While it was definitely expected, it was just really awesome. It made it extra special that everyone contributed. It was exciting.”
For her part, Baur – the Univest Featured Female Athlete of the Week – was part of the 400 freestyle relay team that ended the meet with a second-place finish as well as the 400 freestyle relay team that placed second earlier in the meet.
She also scored points toward the victory with a 14th-place finish in the 100 freestyle.
“It feels good,” said Baur, who also placed a formidable 20th in the 200 freestyle (the top 16 score points). “This is the first day I’ve been able to relax, but I will be back in the pool shortly.”
Baur said she “grew up around the pool,” which was right in the family’s back yard, and she would vacation at a lake and swim there, too.
“I was always around water,” she said.
She will be back to training -- as she will continue her athletic career at St. Francis, where she will be joined by North Penn teammate Erin O’Neill and will also be part of the school’s inaugural water polo squad – but no longer as a Maiden.
That will be the first time in four years that she will be able to say that, a reality she is slowly wrapped herself around.
“It still hasn’t hit me that the season is done,” she said. “In a week or so, it will hit me.”
And when it does, so will all of her accomplishments.
The medals from the recent trek to Bucknell are hardly the only hardware she has earned.
The Maidens won the District One title all of her four years, and the state title in water polo three of the last four years. She has stood out for both teams, which contain many of the same comrades, but it is her ability to place team first that has endeared her to her coaches.
“Aimee is the ultimate team player,” said Katie Grunmeier, the water polo coach. “She is extremely athletic, but what makes her stand out is the dedication and work ethic she possesses that every coach dreams of for all of their players. Aimee is capable of playing every position in the pool, and playing it well, dominating the competition. She helped lead our team to back-to-back back state water polo championships, and we went undefeated this past year. Aimee was one of the top players in Pennsylvania for the past two seasons, earning First Team All- State Honors.”
The daughter of Paul and Allsion Baur, she is the youngest of four sisters who all swam for North Penn and then on the Division III level at Grove City. She presumed she would do the same, but kept an open mind when St. Francis – located in central Pennsylvania -- came into the picture, and she made a decision to buck the family trend.
“At first, I wasn’t too sure about even doing sports at all in college,” she said. “I looked at some Division III schools to do both sports. I looked at some other colleges for swimming. (St. Francis) said they could make it work (for swimming and water polo).”
She will going there with a plan beyond the pool, as she enters into a six-year program – three under-grad and three-post grad – that will lead to her having a doctorate in physical therapy.
That crystalized for her as a career goal recently, but dates back to her own struggles with a back injury in her diving days in middle school that she still battles to keep from getting the best of her.
“I’ve been fascinated by the whole recovery process,” said Baur, who has had to stop diving and removed the butterfly and breaststroke from her repertoire while also holding herself back, training-wise, before big meets. “I want to work with athletes in general and help athletes recover.”
While it sounds demanding, being a two-sport collegiate athlete and pursuing a difficult academic goal is really nothing she hasn’t already conquered handling a course load with AP-level classes at North Penn.
It has been a way of life for the self-described “late bloomer,” who came into her own during her sophomore season.
Head coach Matt Weiser has his charges practice every afternoon and three times a week in the morning.
“It’s definitely all time management,” said Baur, who is also involved in her church youth group and volunteers in the nursery on Sundays. “With my homework, I just get done as much as I can get done when I get home from school.”
Weiser has zero doubts that she will reach any goal she sets for herself.
“Aimee is an outstanding student and athlete,” he said. “She’s been nothing but a pleasure to coach since her freshman year. This year, in particular, her leadership really stood out. (Aimee), with our three other captains, have been instrumental in the success of the team.
“Her qualities also extend outside the pool. She has a great personality and is a fantastic teammate. I could not be any more proud of her and her accomplishments. She has come a long way over the last four years and I know she will be successful in the future. I’ll miss her – not only for the team contributions, but for what she brings every day. She represents North Penn perfectly.”
Baur took a second to ponder the chicken-or-egg question about whether she is a natural leader or if she saw it as the role she was meant to play in her final year.
“A little bit of both,” she said. “I like helping others but, as a senior, I knew I had to step up and help the team.”
And now, she can sit back and take it all in.
“This year was our most exciting year,” she said. “It was our first state title in 26 years.
“I want to thank my coaches, parents and the team – including those teammates who have graduated and those still on the team. They all played a huge role in motivating me and helping get to where I am now.”
