associated press 2007

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Opinion by Greg Hansen : In this month of giving, Wildcats need a gift: support of fans Opinion by Greg Hansen : Big Game Week, always, vs. ASU Opinion by Greg Hansen : Giving thanks for Vern Friedli, ESPN and rain in desert Opinion by Greg Hansen : New club for Match Play has major 'wow factor' Opinion by Greg Hansen : Tucson schools should leave AIA Greg Hansen: Practice made perfectOpinion by Greg Hansen : It's the same old heartbreak as UA fails to win big one Opinion by Greg Hansen : Beavers, armed with Pac-10's top player, will fire 'best shot' Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats' success fails to fill seats, no butts about it Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats testing fans' faith, loyalty early in season

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Lacey Nymeyer is a world-class swimmer with a world-class work ethic, a UA senior who has figured out and overcome everything — except maybe calculus.

"As a first-semester freshman, I got a C in calculus,'' she says. "I was in and out of the professor's office every day. It was a pity that I was such a nuisance.''

For 3 1/2 years, all of Nymeyer's other UA classes resulted in a different grade: A.

So let's say that when the world-record-setting swimmer from Mountain View High School felt a twinge of pain in her back two months ago, it was something like calculus.

She was in and out of the medical center almost every day. X-rays. MRIs. Doubt. Everything but pity.

"Lacey reached the point that she could barely function,'' says UA swim coach Frank Busch. "In the first semester, she didn't compete for us at all.''

When the calendar flipped to December, Nymeyer knew exactly where she stood. The most anticipated year of her distinguished career was a month away, coming way too fast, and the medical people still had not gotten an A in calculus.

By mid-March, in a leading role, Nymeyer plans to help No. 3 Arizona win its first NCAA team swimming championship. By July, she fully expects to make the USA roster for the Beijing Olympics. By August, she expects to have an Olympic medal dangling from her neck.

Nowhere on her schedule did she reserve time for an injury and the attendant rehabilitation.

"The soft tissue on one of her ribs gave way, and it came out of joint,'' Busch says. "It happened about three times in a month. We backed off for a while, and when she came back, boom, the rib came out of joint again. We probably just over-did it.''

All of this happened at precisely the wrong time for the Pac-10's 2007 female swimmer of the year.

In 2007, Nymeyer emerged as one of America's leading swimmers. She won the NCAA title in the 200 freestyle, a versatile, point-scoring machine who helped the Wildcats finish second overall. Earning a roster spot on the USA World Championship team, Nymeyer went to Australia and helped her American teammates set a world record in the 4 x 200 freestyle.

Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Nymeyer does not give more than a hint that her back has been killing her, or upsetting her grand '08 plans. If you want details, you have to get them from Busch.

"I've had to train differently; I just can't get in the pool and knock out yardage,'' she says. "I've had to be creative and think of different ways to get the same amount of work."

Worried?

"Oh, no,'' she says. "I'd much rather have had this happen in the first semester than in the spring and summer. Frank and I both believe these things happen for a reason, and that I'm supposed to learn something from this. If I look at it in any other way than positively, it'll just make it worse.''

So Nymeyer heads for the holidays relieved that the worst might be over and that when the Wildcats resume competition Jan. 4, she will be knocking out yardage and laying the foundation for her big year.

If it is worrisome, it is because swimmers are not like third basemen, golfers and tennis players.

World-class swimmers do not get rained out. If it is rainy, foggy and chilly — as it has been in Tucson recently — and the training sheet says "workout at 8 a.m.,'' you are on the deck by 7:45. You swim until 10, and then book it for the warmth of McKale Center.

That is true today, tomorrow and every day but Sunday. One workout in the morning. One in the afternoon. In the culture of world-class swimming, you train until you get hurt, or until you retire, whichever comes first.

You do it because the swimmer in the lane next to you at the NCAA championships, or at the Olympic trials, does not relent. So whenever you are injured and out of the water, you presumably lose precious ground.

Busch, for example, holds what he calls a "boot camp'' from Dec. 26 to when school begins again in mid-January. "We hold them hostage,'' he says with a laugh.

Nymeyer has been a willing swimming hostage, and that is part of the reason why she has become a prominent name in global swimming.

"Every year, Lacey keeps getting better and better and continues to climb the world ladder,'' Busch says. "She's won an NCAA title, but she won't rest until she has an Olympic medal. She's happy but not completely satisfied; she's always chasing something.''

Between now and the kickoff to Busch's day-after-Christmas camp, Nymeyer will continue her chase.

She is pursuing another 4.0 GPA for the semester. She is trying to make the best of a troubling challenge.

"I went with my team to the Texas Invitational recently, not as a swimmer, but as an observer,'' she says. "It so fired me up to watch the girls at Texas, buying into the program, being a team, and coming together as a force for the NCAAs.

"It was a totally new perspective for me. I can't wait for next semester. I got goose bumps just thinking about it.''