Local swimming prodigy Fye, 12, turns heads on national level

Tuesday, January 18, 2011
© Copyright 2013 Albany Herald

Photo by Danny Aller

ALBANY -- She's at it again.

Nicole Fye, the area's 12-year-old swimming prodigy, made another splash recently at the Al Soltis Memorial Swim Meet in Clearwater, Fla., this past weekend.

Not only was Nicole named the Most Outstanding Swimmer in the 11-12-year-old category, she won seven events by anywhere from five to 30 seconds.

Most impressive, however, was her 2:29.67 finish in the 200 butterfly, where she swam a time that ranked in the Top 100 in her age category -- all-time -- in the record books at USA Swimming, according to her head coach Jeff DeMott, who leads Fye's local swim club troupe, the Flint River Rapids.

"She jumped just ahead of Katy Hall, a (Junior) U.S. Olympian, and is amongst other Olympians (on that list)," DeMott said. "So it puts her in some real good company. She's also three seconds off the state record for Georgia. So we're pleased with her."

DeMott said Fye, who turned 12 in November, shaved 40 seconds off her time from 2009-10, and he expects her to continue to improve every year.

Next up for Flint River is a meet in two weeks in Tallahassee at Florida State University, then the 14-under Georgia state championship in February.

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