Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Sports

At a loss for words, all head coach Mark Gole could think to say about what sets junior swimmer Kate Aherne apart from her peers is that she has "it." Whatever "it" is and wherever "it" came from, he couldn't say, but he did say that of the 15 years he has spent coaching, she is one of the few athletes he has coached that has had "it."

"She is a rare find when it comes to an athlete," Gole said. "There's a lot of times when athletes question - it's just human nature - but Kate doesn't question anything. … She's unique in the sense that she can understand what she and her teammates do and go through at practice, then if anybody ever questions it, she's comfortable coming to us, finding out why and then she is able to understand it 100 hundred percent. She just gets it. She understands what we do, why we do it and how to do it."

It could have been the "it" factor that allowed Aherne to continue her streak of pure domination in the Div. II swimming realm. She finished the season at nationals with seven All-American honors, a championship victory and the Div. II national record in the 200-yard individual medley, a race Gole deemed "the ultimate test of versatility and speed."

Aherne also touched in a second-place finish by .01 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle that immediately followed her championship race. She shattered a school record in the 100-yard freestyle as part of the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay.

"I was really happy with how I did this season," Aherne said. "Every season has gotten better, and this is definitely the best one yet. I felt like I worked harder than I had before, and it really paid off."

Aherne placed top-four in all of her individual events and said this and the success the relays had at nationals made her experience surreal and mind-blowing.

"My expectations of myself are always just to go as fast as I can and get my best times, which I did, but just coming out of nationals with the places I got, that was not something I ever expected to do," Aherne said.

Aherne attributed her success to the help and training Gole has provided and her ability to motivate herself into working hard every day. She said her teammates play a huge role in supporting and pushing her to be her best.

"You're only as good as the people who you practice with and who you swim with,"

Aherne said. "I wouldn't have been able to do what I have been able to do without them."

Gole expanded upon the reason for Aherne's success. He attributed it to her attitude as a competitor and couldn't say enough about her strengths as an individual and the hard work she put in throughout the season.

Continued...

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