Local 17-year-old Swimmer Made It To U.S. Olympic Team Trials

YORKTOWN — Kyleigh Tankard starts her mornings at 3:45 a.m. before heading to swim practice. 

While most teenagers won’t be awake for at least another three hours, this early alarm has paid off for the 17-year-old.

Last weekend, Tankard competed in Wave I of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska; something she has always dreamed about. 

For the past ten years, Tankard has been a swimmer for Coast Guard Blue Dolphins (CGBD), a Yorktown-based club team of whom she represented at this year’s trials.  

She qualified this past May in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly at Richmond’s “Super Sectional” meet. 

This year, the meet was split into two waves. For Wave I, the swimmers had to meet a 1:00.69 time for the 100 fly and a 2:14.59 in the 200 fly. Wave II was for Olympians and swimmers who had a strong shot at making the Olympic team. 

Tankard qualified for the trials with a 1:00.06 for the 100 fly and a 2:14.41 in the 200 fly.

At the trials, she competed in the 200 fly on Friday, June 4 and the 100 fly on Sunday, June 6.

“I was definitely really nervous,” Tankard said. “I’ve never been to a meet quite on that scale before. The pool was really intimidating, especially for my first swim. But after that it got a little bit better because I knew what to expect and I kind of just had fun with it.”

Tankard was seeded 11th in the 200 fly and advanced to finals, where she placed 13th. 

She then went on to compete in the 100 fly, where she finished in 8th place.

This was the biggest meet the Yorktown native has attended, and she’s certainly put in the hours to get there. 

A junior at Grafton High School, Tankard goes to swim practice every morning from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. before going back home to do school since school system students were able to attend virtually this year. 

On the three days a week that she has double practices, she has time to come home from afternoon practice, eat and go to bed to wake up and do it all over again the next day. 

Tankard said that she is not sure where this drive comes from, as she was not very competitive growing up.

“I loved swimming, but I wasn’t ever good at it until I was older,” she said.

She began swimming for CGBD when she was in the second grade because dolphins are her favorite animals and she “wanted to be a dolphin.”

Her mother, Pam Tankard, said that swimming was only meant to be a fun sport to try. 

“She tried soccer and tennis. She doesn’t like to get hot, but she always loved the water,” Pam said. “It started as 45 minutes, twice a week, and then she kept progressing. It never seemed very significant because she’s always been swimming with the same group of girls.”

Tankard said that she received an overwhelming amount of support from friends and family when she competed at the trials. 

“Everyone knew I really wanted it because I had been hoping to get my trials cut at the Richmond meet and everyone was so excited for me,” she said. “No one in my family swims besides me, so not everyone really gets it. But everyone watched me on TV, so that was cool.” 

Tankard credits Jack Bierie, her coach of three years, for helping to develop her butterfly and get her to where she is now. 

“My butterfly was good when I started with him, but I could have never done a 200 fly the way I do now,” she said. “He’s been great. And he’s worked with me on just calming my nerves before I swim.”

How does Tankard calm her nerves before competing in something as big as the Olympic Trials?

“I’ve been working with some of my coaches on breathing techniques,” she said. “And I’m a nervous talker, so when I’m in the ‘ready room,’ if I know anyone I’ll try to talk to them and it kind of distracts me.”

Tankard knew that her chances at making the Olympic team this year were slim, but she took in every second of the experience.

“I mean, of course I really wanted to swim well and I did well, but I kind of was just taking it all in,” she said. 

She thinks back to a moment when she met Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel at the trials, who told her “This is a perfect meet when you’re younger because you can take it all in so you’re ready when you’re older.”

Now Tankard is home and already back into her normal training routine. Her next big competition is the state champion meet, which she will compete in with her CGBD national team. After that, she will compete in a regional meet, Summer Junior Nationals and Summer Nationals. 

Tankard is on the swim team at Grafton High, where she will be going into her senior year.  She has committed to swim for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

“We’re super excited she’s going to keep swimming in college,” Pam said. “It’s really helped her build a lot of confidence as she’s grown up.”