2008 Woodie Awards
Swimming for the Thrill
MJC provides platform for multi-sport athlete and student extraordinaire
Andrew Shrader
Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: Sports
Karen Ard was born in Modesto and began swimming seven years ago at the tender age of 11. When most 11 year old girls were worrying about what to write in their Anne Frank diaries, Ard began swimming as a form of entertainment and something to do on a hot summer day. Little did she know that her sweet escape from boredom would lead her to where she is today. In her first year at Modesto Junior College, Ard swam into the spotlight. On Friday March 2 she joined her dad (MJC men's golf coach Gary Ard) in the MJC record books as she broke the 1650 free record with a time of 19:16, surpassing the previous record time of 19:54.
It's been a long time coming. At 12 she joined the CMST swim team and began swimming competitively. Through the years, her love for swimming grew and she took up water polo her sophomore year in high school. She attended Johansen High School and played on the Vikings girl's water polo team, but things weren't always a glamorous fairy tale story for her, as she played the role of backup on the team. Ard wasn't the all American high school superstar that most athletes wanted to embody in high school and she wasn't always the fastest fish in the sea. She was low key, hid in the shadows of better, faster swimmers and amazingly never finished a race in first place in high school.
She did not let this diminish her spirit though. Ard strived harder to be the best and continued to work hard to get to where she is today. It took her until Modesto Junior College to break out of the shadows of the backup role.
She began playing college water polo when water polo coach Kurt Olsen recruited her, but Coach Olsen had a golden rule that required all water polo players to also be on the swimming team in order to play. In her first year at MJC, Ard found out how much harder she had to work at her new school to stay on top. Her practice schedule consisted of Monday/Wednesday swim practice from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. with afternoon practice from 12:30-2:30 p.m.) and Tuesday/Thursday weight sessions from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. With her hectic practice schedule, she had to somehow find time to squeeze in the 15-18 full time units of classes she was taking while at the same time maintaining a 3.6 GPA, a full plate for any person let alone an 18-year-old fresh out of high school. All this hard work has paid off though. She quickly found success in the pool when she swam her personal best (11.33) in the 1000 free, then immediately swimming the 200 free 30 seconds later. Ard said her motivation to keep swimming at MJC was to break swimming records -- and she did.
Ard will try to continue this success as she help lead the lady Pirates swim team to a Bay Valley Conference title this year before their departure for the much tougher and more competitive Big 7 league next year.
It's been a long time coming. At 12 she joined the CMST swim team and began swimming competitively. Through the years, her love for swimming grew and she took up water polo her sophomore year in high school. She attended Johansen High School and played on the Vikings girl's water polo team, but things weren't always a glamorous fairy tale story for her, as she played the role of backup on the team. Ard wasn't the all American high school superstar that most athletes wanted to embody in high school and she wasn't always the fastest fish in the sea. She was low key, hid in the shadows of better, faster swimmers and amazingly never finished a race in first place in high school.
She did not let this diminish her spirit though. Ard strived harder to be the best and continued to work hard to get to where she is today. It took her until Modesto Junior College to break out of the shadows of the backup role.
She began playing college water polo when water polo coach Kurt Olsen recruited her, but Coach Olsen had a golden rule that required all water polo players to also be on the swimming team in order to play. In her first year at MJC, Ard found out how much harder she had to work at her new school to stay on top. Her practice schedule consisted of Monday/Wednesday swim practice from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. with afternoon practice from 12:30-2:30 p.m.) and Tuesday/Thursday weight sessions from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. With her hectic practice schedule, she had to somehow find time to squeeze in the 15-18 full time units of classes she was taking while at the same time maintaining a 3.6 GPA, a full plate for any person let alone an 18-year-old fresh out of high school. All this hard work has paid off though. She quickly found success in the pool when she swam her personal best (11.33) in the 1000 free, then immediately swimming the 200 free 30 seconds later. Ard said her motivation to keep swimming at MJC was to break swimming records -- and she did.
Ard will try to continue this success as she help lead the lady Pirates swim team to a Bay Valley Conference title this year before their departure for the much tougher and more competitive Big 7 league next year.