BENTONVILLE -- Taylor Pike remembers watching the swimming events during the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and her response after her father said that would be her in four years.
"I said 'Dad, you are crazy. I'm going to be 16 and I'm not going to be good enough to go there,'" she said.
At A Glance
TAYLOR PIKE
SCHOOL Bentonville High
CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 5-0
NOTABLE Set the state record in the girls 200-yard freestyle in 2015 with a time of 1 minute, 51.45 seconds, then set the state record in the girls 100 butterfly last year with her time of 53.96 seconds. … Helped Bentonville’s girls set the state 400 freestyle relay in 2015 with a time of 3:36.15. … Signed her national letter of intent with Texas A&M in November. … Has a 4.21 grade point average while taking advanced placement classes. … Academic honors include Student of the Year for liberal arts, president of Outreach for Christ (Bible Club at Bentonville), all-region choir finalist, choral all-region and all-state finalist and math all-state finalist in algebra/geometry.
Pike’s Peaks
Here are a few of Taylor Pike’s swimming accomplishments:
• 2016-17 USA Swimming national team member
• 2016 Team USA member during the FINA Hong Kong Marathon Cup
• 2016 Team USA member during the FINA Open Water World Junior Championships in Hoom, Netherlands
• 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist in the women’s 200-meter butterfly
• Ranked the ninth top female recruit nationally in the Class of 2017 by SwimSwam.com
• Posted the Class of 2017’s top time in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:54.95 during the USA Junior Nationals in December
• 2016 USA Swimming Open Water Natonals 18-under national champion in the women’s 10,000 meters
• 2015 USA Swimming 18-under national champion in the women’s 200-meter butterfly
• Two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American
• Undefeated Arkansas state champion in the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle
• 2015-16 NISCA Swimming All-American
Father knew best, after all.
Pike not only competed in the 200-meter butterfly during last year's Olympic Trials, but she reached the semifinals and just missed advancing to the finals.
Now the Bentonville High senior has every intention of not only returning to the Olympic Trials, but she wants to do everything she can to participate in the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo -- a dream she has had since she set her first meet record.
"Of course, I was 8 at the time and it was ridiculous," Pike said. "But as I kept improving and swimming better, I kept dreaming about it. Now that I'm at an age where I can compete with those people, it's become a reality.
"Now it's something I strive for and something I train for every day. It's something I think about when I go to practice every day because it's possible."
If Pike never sees her dream become fulfilled, it won't be for a lack of working to obtain that goal. She practices with the rest of her Bentonville swim teammates from 2:30 to 4 p.m., she then travels to Springdale and practices at the Jones Center with the Razorback Aquatic Club AquaHawgs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on a regular basis.
She also swims in the mornings, with sessions going 1 1/2 to 2 hours four days a week and another 2 1/2-hour workout on Saturdays. Her time spent in the water adds up to 22-23 hours each week.
"She works harder than anybody I've ever seen work in any sport, and I've coached several different sports," Bentonville coach Nick Nersesian said. "Seldom do you look at the modern high school athlete and see that idea that hard work brings success. Taylor has learned that and brought that to the table with her, and she's finding that success.
"If you look at her, she takes on multiple tasks simultaneously, and she's successful at it. She feeds off that success. She's driven to analyze things in an instant and applies it.
Pike was destined to spend a lot of time in the water, especially since her family has a rich swimming heritage. Her mother swam collegiately at UCLA, while two of her aunts swam for California and Stanford and an uncle who swam at Harvard.
She was introduced to the pool at age 2, and she competed in her first swim meet at age 4. Her mother coached the youth swim team at the time, which gave Pike a competitive age because most youths don't compete in swimming until they turn 5.
"I don't remember it at all," Pike said. "My parents tell me about it. They said it was about three or four races before I beat someone for the first time, and it was the first time I went under a minute for the 25 freestyle. I do start remembering some of the races when I was 6 or 7."
Pike has steadily improved her times until she earned a chance to compete in the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. She competed against 96 other swimmers in the 200 butterfly, and her time of 2 minutes, 10.84 seconds put her in a tie for seventh and moved her into the semifinals.
She swam again later that day and finished 12th out of 16 girls. Her semifinal time was 2:11.89, and she missed qualifying for the finals by less than 7/10ths of a second.
"When I got the qualifying times when I was 14 or 15, it was crazy to think that I was going to the Olympic Trials," Pike said. "I've seen them on TV, and I thought it was going to be crazy. When I went, it was definitely the craziest thing I've ever experienced.
"There were thousands of people in the stands and a spotlight on the pool in the middle of an arena. When I swam for the first time there, it was awesome. When I made the semifinals and I got to walk out and hear them say my name, it was an amazing experience."
Pike is about to see her high school career come to an end, and she already owns state records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly and helped Bentonville set a state record in the 400 freestyle relay. Her final goal is a simple one -- help the Lady Tigers earn a fourth consecutive state title.
Her next step is already laid out since she signed a national letter of intent with Texas A&M in November. She will also use that time to prepare for the 2020 Games.
"She knows what her goals are," Nersesian said. "She knows what she enjoys, and she wants to reach those goals.
"I'm going to miss our talks, and I'm going to miss that smile of hers. She always has a positive attitude about everything, and nothing really bothers her. It's scary at times that she can handle things so well."
Sports on 01/31/2017