Alexa McKinney likes swimming freestyles for the Seymour girls’ swim team, and her favorite events are the 50 and 100 frees.
She gets a rush before and during competition.
“The adrenaline before I go into the pool is what gets me to go faster, and the rush you feel after afterwards is always the best part,” McKinney said. “You have to be exact on everything in the 50. You also have to make sure that you don’t take very many breaths because you’re breathing can affect how your strokes are as well.”
The Seymour High School senior said her best time in the 100 has been a 1:02 and she wants to break a minute.
McKinney also enjoys the relays.
“My favorite relay is probably the 200 freestyle relay because then I can continue to swim my 50 freestyle,” she said.
She normally swims the medley relay, and in some meets she swims the 400 free relay.
This season, McKinney looks forward to filling a leadership role on the swim team.
“One of my goals this season is to make the most impact on the other girls,” McKinney said. “I want to leave a leadership role to somebody else to who is below me, and I want to make sure the juniors to take on a leadership role as a senior.”
McKinney said she started her swimming career in Brownstown with the Brave Wave, and she transferred to Seymour her freshman year so she could swim.
On the schedule, McKinney said he looks forward to the Hoosier Hills Conference meet.
“Conference is probably my favorite meet because its gets me ready for sectionals,” she said. “The conference is there to tell me where I’m at for sectionals, and it gets me prepared to do my best.”
She said it is important to be positive going into a meet.
“The biggest thing I work on (before a meet) is my mental attitude,” McKinney said. “Being mentally prepared for your strokes, I think, is the most important thing because if you overthink stuff then you’re going to mess up.
“You have to think about the most important thing to fix for that stroke. Practice is the most important thing for us because if you don’t do well in practice then you’re not going to do well in the meets. You have to make sure that you put your full effort in the practices so you can do your best at the meets.”
She has a half-hour drive to school, and admitted that some mornings it is hard to get up and be at the pool for a 6 a.m. practice
“But, at the end of the day you know putting those extra hours in is going to make you to do your best,” McKinney said.
Alexa says she enjoys having her sister, Audri, on the team.
“It’s always going to be a struggle to have a sibling on the team, but being with my sister is always really encouraging for me because that’s somebody who I can be a mentor to,” McKinney said. “I love my sister. She’s so much fun, and she always makes me laugh. She’s always an encouragement to me when I’m feeling down, and she encourages me to do my absolute best.”
McKinney has enjoyed attending Seymour.
“The teachers are very encouraging,” McKinney said. “I enjoy all the classes that I’m in, and I’ve made a lot of friends.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”McKinney file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Alexa McKinney
School: Seymour High School
Parents: Ben and Kris McKinney
Siblings: Audri, Ben
Sports: swimming 4 years
Organizations: concert, pep and marching bands, color guard
Plans after graduation: attend college, study elementary education
Favorite TV show: Grey’s Anatomy
Favorite musician: Chris Tomlin
Favorite movie: The Heat
Favorite team: Purdue Boilermakers
[sc:pullout-text-end]