Rachel Schlemmer has been named the DHS Press Female Athlete of the Year for her amazing accomplishments as part of the swim team here at Dominion. She made it to states and was crowned state champion for the 100 Butterfly with a personal best time of 55.17.  Schlemmer said about how she felt after her win, “I was really excited, It felt so good because it just kind of feels like everything that you have been working for has finally worked out and come out how you wanted it to.”

Schlemmer competed in four events at States winning one individual, coming in second in the 200 IM. She also was apart of two successful relay teams at States, coming in six in the 200 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay. Schlemmer said, “We also broke the Dominion record in both of them. I was really surprised that we broke the freestyle one, I didn’t think that we were going too.”

She said, “I kept training specifically for that event, working on my butterfly, working on getting stronger, [and] working on recovering faster after my races… It was a lot of race preparation and physical preparation, and a lot of mental preparation as well.”

Schlemmer broke five Dominion swimming records this season, the 500 freestyle, the 100 IM, the 200 IM, the 200 medley relay, and the 200 freestyle relay. She is also on the Titan Wall of Fame for her win at States, quickly leaving her mark at Dominion and it’s swimming program.

The coach and Rachel’s mother, Susan Schlemmer said, “This year during the high school season, Rachel was undefeated in all her individual events through the regular season and the District meet… she was [also] the girls’ team MVP [at Dominion] as the top point scorer both her freshman year and again this year as a sophomore.”

Schlemmer also already has big plans for her next season and has her sights set on another state championship as well as continuing her dominance in the 100 butterfly. Schlemmer said, “Next year it would be great to get state champion again in the 100 butterfly, I am also aiming to be state champion in the 200 IM as well, because I got second in it this year, so that would be great to get state champion in both of those events next year.”

Susan Schlemmer said, “Rachel certainly puts herself to the test everyday… [she] trains with her year-round team up to eight times throughout the week… during high school swim season, she adds another three hours to her training.”

Swimming for 11 years, Schlemmer started when she was five years old. “It motivates me to try harder every single practice and keep reaching for these goals, it’s really what keeps me swimming and what keeps me aiming for higher level meets and high-level competitions,” said Rachel Schlemmer.

She also has several achievements outside of Dominion for swimming as she swims on a club team called Snow Swimming which is year round and she also swims for the Cascades Rapids which is the community summer team. She has competed in different national level competitions and she placed in eighth in the mile at the national meet. But still, Rachel Schlemmer said, “I still think that state champion would probably be my biggest achievement.”

And when it comes to the possibility that Rachel Schlemmer will compete in the Olympics, she said, “I hope so, we will see, I have to get a little bit faster though!”