By By STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
On Saturday, Washington’s Anna Pfeiffer will close out an illustrious swimming career that has seen her establish eight new school records.
But the Lady Pam Pack star is hoping to cap her high school swimming career in style.
The idea of Pfeiffer holding up flowers with a gold medal strapped around her neck isn’t far fetched at all.
Last season, Pfeiffer placed fourth in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breast stroke at the 2008 NCHSAA Class 3A Swimming &Diving Championships.
And just last week, she blistered the field at the NCHSAA Class 3A East Region Championships, as she won the 100-yard freestyle title by almost a second over Ragsdale’s Carlie Pendleton and then cruised to a three-second win over Southern Nash’s Victoria Hardy.
She’s using the thrill of winning gold at regionals as motivation for Saturday’s state meet.
Pfeiffer has a special knack for closing out races. Pake thinks that because of her ability to finish strong, she’ll be in contention to win a state title.
Pfeiffer, who swims year round for the Greenville Swim Club, acknowledges that gold would be great, but she’s also got another goal for this weekend. She’s hoping that the Pam Pack’s 200-yard freestyle relay team or the 200-yard medley relay team that both consist of her, Shannon Niederhauser, Shelby Smithwick and Riziki Omonde can reach the finals on Saturday.
Pfeiffer’s also got another goal. She wants to smash her own school records in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breast stroke because she knows those records will be challenged in the next few years.