C.P. soph swimmer Hannah Raspopovich sprinting toward records

BY RYAN METZ

Times Correspondent

CROWN POINT | Hannah Raspopovich didn't intend it to be a tradition at first, but every time she steps up to the blocks before a race she cracks her fingers and toes.

Now a superstition, the ritual usually comes after Raspopovich jams to hardcore rap like Lil Wayne or Eminem, which she sheepishly admits she only listens to on meet days in order to pump herself up.

It's all part of a routine employed by the sophomore Bulldog swimmer and defending Crown Point Sectional champ in the 50-yard freestyle race.

In order to engage the fast-twitch muscles, the 5-foot-7 sprinter knows she has to visualize the perfect race in her mind and be ready to explode. There is no room for mistakes; otherwise, the 300-400 laps she does on a daily basis could go for naught and it could be over in 24 seconds.

"You really have to prepare yourself because it is over in a blink of an eye," Raspopovich said. "You have to have your perfect race every time and it's hard to do that."

With her background as a breaststroke specialist as a youth, her coach admits that she is still unrefined at the event, which is scary, considering she will probably beat the school record (24.38) by the end of the year. Its owner right now is Raspopovich's sister, Molly, who is a freshman swimmer at the University of Akron.

"If it was just a sprint she might have the speed to be the best in the state," said Bryon Angerman, C.P.'s sixth-year girls coach. "She's got to work on the start and the turn, and that's a good thing because she hasn't reached her full potential."

The start, the turn and the finish take up the tenths of a second that define sectional winners and placement at the state meet.

What Raspopovich calls an "awesome start" was crafted by her age-group coach, John Krick, who established a mental practice drill with a whistle and clap that helped her reaction time.

With more improved breath control, the precocious sprinter wants to get her race down to one breath (on the way back) and take away the three breaths she currently must use.

After finishing 14th at state last season with a time of 24.51, Raspopovich hopes to break into the 23s by the end of the year.

Angerman said they are trying to maximize the amount of speed she can get there and back: "We try a lot of lactic acid build-up in the body to prepare itself for a sprint race. It's like a weight lifter trying not to do a hundred reps but trying to max out at one rep the most they could possibly lift."

The advanced training techniques along with the end-of-season taper are all so that Raspopovich can turn heads at the state meet come February.

"From the time the gun goes off you have to be there 100 percent both mentally and physically," she said, "and I think I can still get better."

Published in the Northwest Indiana Times on Dec. 24, 2009.