School: Central Bucks South
Swimming
Favorite athlete: Ryan Lochte
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Summer swimming growing up – I would get chased around the pool deck, not wanting to get in because of all the bugs in the water.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My good friend swam the 500 free his freshman year in a Speedo that was too big for him, and we saw a little more than a 500. Unfortunately for him, he was in lane one, which was the lane closest to our team.
Music on iPod: Anywhere from Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews Band to Kid Cudi and Wiz Khalifa, and, of course, throwbacks like Backstreet Boys and Nsync. Also a friend on my team has us hooked on Mac Miller.
Future plans: Attending/swimming at the University of Delaware where I plan on majoring in Health and Physical Education and possibly minoring in Nutrition
Words to live by: ‘No pressures, just opportunities.’
One goal before turning 30: To be a high school gym teacher and swim coach
One thing people don’t know about me: I have a bug phobia.
Kevin Murray believes Lauren Ahrens is a natural to one day become a coach.
“She has coaching instincts,” the Central Bucks South coach said of his senior captain. “For two years now, she has been on that level where she has been able to dialogue with me before a dual meet – where do you think the other coach is going to put this kid or that kid? What do we need to do to win this meet?
“I did that in college with my coach, but she does it in high school. She doesn’t just show up and swim her races. She’s concerned with everything that’s going on.”
According to Murray, input from Ahrens before key dual meets against Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks West has led to a pair of big wins for the Titans.
“I know a lot of swimmers in the area because they swim U.S. with me, so I can give him information about freshmen he doesn’t know but I know because they swim with me,” Ahrens said.
Beyond that, Ahrens – herself a district champion – has willingly worked with some of the less experienced swimmers.
“Last year she was working breaststroke turns with some of my girls who I wasn’t get through to effectively for some reason,” Murray said. “I had her work with them, and she really shined in that atmosphere.
“Sometimes the higher level swimmers can’t talk to the other kids on the team, but she did an awesome job with that.”
Ahrens, it turns out, hasn’t forgotten how she received help from seniors when she joined the team as a freshman.
“Sometimes it’s easier to learn things from people your own age,” she said. “They’re more on your level, and sometimes it helps to hear another person explain it in a different way.”
A two-year captain, Ahrens has not only been an effective leader but also a standout swimmer. The individual medley has been her event of choice, and last year, she won the gold medal in that event at districts.
“She’s always been a very good IMer,” Murray said. “She’s consistently well ahead of anyone she meets in dual meets in the IM. She’s just awesome at it.
“Sometimes it’s tough. When you’re that good compared to everybody else, it would be easy to go through a race at 90 percent. You know you’re going to win anyway, but she doesn’t do that. Every time she goes up there, she’s cranking, which is good.”
What is it that sets Ahrens apart in the IM?
“With her, it’s the fact that she can do every stroke at a high level,” Murray said. “I could put her in our league championship meet in the 100 free, the 100 back or 100 breast, and she would be ranked in the top three or four in each of those.
“That adds up in her IM whereas her competitors are great at fly and great at back and slow at breast or great at breast but don’t have the butterfly or backstroke at the beginning to keep up with her. What makes her so dominant is she’s highly proficient in every stroke.”
Ahrens has been swimming since her earliest recollection.
“We have a pool in our backyard, so my mom wanted me and my siblings to go through swim lessons just be to safe when we were around the pool,” she recalled.
By the time she was six, Ahrens was swimming competitively at the Hatboro YMCA, but she was hardly one-dimensional. She also grew up playing soccer, softball and field hockey and was involved in dance.
“I never thought I would stick with swimming over them,” she admits.
But that’s exactly what happened. When she was in eighth grade, Ahrens began swimming for the CBST U.S. team.
“With the YMCA team and practices after school, getting there was hard,” she said. “The US team practiced at my high school, so it was a lot more convenient.
“Besides that, we were all growing up, and some of the kids I had been swimming with were picking different sports. It wasn’t the same.”
The switch to U.S. swimming brought a change in mindset for Ahrens.
“The YMCA team taught me the fundamentals of swimming and more of how it can be a team sport,” she said. “Once I transferred to the U.S. team, that’s when it became really intense. That was definitely when I got into the sport.”
Dance and soccer had already fallen by the wayside, and field hockey and softball were the next to go. Ahrens was committed to swimming year-round.
“It was a hard decision,” she said. “But you become so close to your swim team because you’re with them year round, so that was a big factor.
“I knew if I wanted to get better at swimming I would have to dedicate more time to it.”
Murray knew he was inheriting a standout swimmer when Ahrens came on board as a ninth grader. By the time she was a sophomore, Ahrens – who missed out on a state berth by .03 as a freshman - had advanced to the state meet in her event.
Still, she wasn’t sure if she would continue her swimming career beyond high school.
“I didn’t think I wanted to,” Ahrens said. “It was too time consuming.
“Midway through the year last year I really started thinking – could I swim for college?”
Ahrens was the third seed entering districts, and she shocked even herself when she won the gold in the IM.
“I just go into districts hoping to get a top three to go to states or getting as close as I can to guarantee myself a spot in states,” she said. “Last year I went in like my freshman and sophomore years. I never expected to win it. I was so shocked.”
As a sophomore and junior, Ahrens also competed in the backstroke at districts.
“This year up until last week I wasn’t sure what my second event would be,” Ahrens said. “It was between the 100 free, back or breaststroke, but I chose the 100 back because it’s my senior year, and I want my second event to be something I enjoy.”
Ahrens excellence in the IM can be attributed to the fact that she likes change.
“Ever since I started I have never had a specific stroke I excelled in,” she said. “I’m the type of swimmer that gets very bored at practices, so I like switching up the strokes. I don’t like relying on one stroke to be good at.
“My coach taught me early on that in order to be an IMer, you have to keep practicing it and learn how to swim it because it’s not a regular event.”
Ahrens enters this weekend’s SOL conference meet as the top seed in the IM and also the 100 back. With the district meet on the horizon, her goal is to once again return to states.
“There’s definitely going to be pressure, but I’m also going in a lot more confident than in previous years because I know I can do it,” Ahrens said. “It’s just a matter of how fast the other girls go.”
Next year, Ahrens will continue her swimming career at the University of Delaware. She opted to make the decision before her final high school season and signed during the early signing period in November. She chose Delaware over the University of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
“The distance was definitely a factor with UConn and Rhode Island,” she said. “Also, I meshed with the team well, and I liked the coaches.
“My older sister went to Delaware, so I have loved it for a while.”
An excellent student, Ahrens is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Student Council and Key Club,
“Academics are very important to me,” she said. “That was the number one thing my parents wanted me to look for in schools. They’ve also been big on me being involved in school.
“It’s also nice to hang out with my school friends and go to student council meetings to get away from swimming because it becomes overwhelming. It’s like I have two lives – my school and school friends and my swimming world.”
Next year, Ahrens plans to major in health and physical education with a possible nutrition minor.
“My ideal dream job is to be a health and physical education teacher and high school swim coach and maybe an athletic director,” she said.
According to Murray, Ahrens would find it a perfect fit.
