TAMPA, Fla. – Isabelle Sering wants to continue her All-American dominance at the NCAA Championships – but wearing new colours.
Sering spent her first three years of college at Saint Leo University, representing the green and yellow, now she hopes to continue her streak at the nationals wearing the red and black of the University of Tampa.
“I was an All-American in my sophomore and junior years at Saint Leo, and I hope to continue that next week,” she said.
Sering went through a difficult time after Saint Leo cut its swim program and all of its athletes had to find another school.
“I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go,” she said, “but I reached out to the coaches here at Tampa and they were really nice and understanding of what had happened at Saint Leo.”
Assistant swim coach Phil Murray mentioned how Sering’s being a senior on the team and wanting to get better each day is part of the reason why she’s excelled at the next level.
“She has been open to a new style of coaching and training,” Murray said, “and she’s become so much better now than at the beginning of the season … and she’s a great role model as well, which is what we like to see in our senior athletes”.
The senior said that she’s very happy to be a Spartan and there’s such a family dynamic on the team.
“I love the campus, facilities, town of Tampa and I get to be close to all of my friends at Saint Leo so it’s great,” she said, “and I love my teammates, coaches, other training staff. It’s a great program and [they] really welcomed me when I arrived.”
Sering, from Trelleborg, Sweden, and had the chance to represent her nation at the Nordic Junior Championship in 2015. She finished fifth in the 200-meter backstroke. “It was amazing to wear the [Blue and Yellow] and compete against some of Europe’s best swimmers at the time,” she said.
Sering will be competing in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley, looking forward to what may be her final races at the NCAA level.
