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Sports

Haverford's Shane Ryan Wins A State Title

The junior swimmer may be headed toward competing in the 2012 Olympics.

Shane Ryan could have looked at something else and somewhere else. The junior star swimmer didn’t. Ryan was facing the best in not only Pennsylvania, but the best in the Stanford-bound David Nolan, of Hershey High School over the weekend in the PIAA state swimming championships at Bucknell University.

Ryan walked away with another gold medal, taking the 200-yard freestyle championship in a personal-record time of 1:38.3 and finished second to Nolan in the 100-yard backstroke in 47.53 seconds, another personal-best time. But Nolan swam a 45.49, which broke Ryan’s 100 backstroke state record last year but broke the national record. Nolan won five gold medals over the weekend, and he was so dominant that his national time in the 200 individual medley relay would have won last year’s NCAA 200 IM.

This was the swimmer Ryan was bucking up against.

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Ryan could have opted to swim in another event, other than the 100 backstroke. But the 100 backstroke is his best event, and Nolan is considered the best in the country, a master in myriad events.

“I think I learned that you have to beat the best to be the best,” Ryan said. “I also learned I have to train harder in practice and when I do swim, I have to bust it all out in everything I do. I’m definitely happy with what I did though. I’ve dropped a second each year, and I’m really happy about that. In junior nationals, I worried about racing against myself, and from last October, I wanted to swim faster and I wanted to improve. I know now where I need to go to make that next step, to where someone David Nolan is. The next step really for me is winning junior nationals and working my way on being top 10.”

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The 6-foot-6, 180-pound Ryan has qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials, but he could make it to 2012 London Olympics by another route. Ryan’s father was born in Ireland and Ryan has dual citizenship, in Ireland and the United States. Most of his father’s family is still in Ireland. He’ll be leaving for Ireland on April 13 and staying there for 10 days.

“I can try out for the Irish National team and swim for Ireland in the 2012 Olympics,” Ryan said. “My father is from Ireland and everyone on my father’s side is from Ireland, so I’m going to Ireland in two weeks to see their new Olympic pool. I’m going there for experience. I’m American and I was born here, I’m just trying to get experience, and I can represent both the United States and Ireland. In 2016, I want to swim for the United States Olympic team, but if I have the chance to go to the Olympics in 2012 and swim for Ireland, I’m not going to let that chance just go by. I have to take it.”

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