Two St. Tammany High School swimmers, North Shore High School graduate Michael Bonson and Mandeville High School senior Kayden Hedrick, have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which began June 15 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The odds of qualifying for the Olympic Trials are astronomical: According to USA Swimming, only 0.5 percent of swimmers meet the required time standards, meaning 1,070 swimmers compete, with roughly 100 of them under the age of 18.
Hedrick, 17, falls into the latter category. A member of New Wave Swim Club in New Orleans, he qualified in the 200 butterfly along with his 100 butterfly teammate, Jesuit senior Enzo Solitario.
“It feels surreal. I'm still trying to take it all in. It's like nothing I've ever experienced or seen before. When preliminaries started (on June 18), my mind went blank. The pool was amazing, the crowd at the aquatics center was just loud and crazy,” Hedrick said.
“My experience at the Olympic Trials has motivated me to continue striving to achieve my goals at the highest level. I have a renewed passion to train harder, race better and get faster. I just hope I can give it another go.”
Hedrick qualified for the Olympic Trials with a personal best of 2 minutes, 0.38 seconds at the International Swimming Hall of Fame pool in Fort Lauderdale, and finished 53rd in the eight-person heat at the Olympic Trials with a time of 2 minutes, 03.48 seconds.
Hedrick, who has committed to the University of Alabama, said competing at the Olympic Trials was once a distant goal, but as her times improved, the dream became a reality.
“It feels great to be preparing for the Olympic Trials with Enzo (Solitario) and my dad (Ross). My dad knows what it takes to coach a team. He inspires all the players and treats me like a whole teammate and pushes me to do my best,” Hedrick said.
Ross Hedrick, a 1993 graduate of Slidell High School, has been the coach of the NuWave swim team since 2015. Ross has been Kayden's coach for the past five years.
“In the end, Kayden's actual swim time was less important than the fact that he had a qualifying time to advance to the Olympic Trials,” Ross said. “It was a mind-blowing event with about 20,000 spectators literally screaming nonstop. It was the most amazing experience I could have ever imagined, and it created countless lifelong memories.”
Ross said coaching his son has been special.
“Kayden can talk to me about getting out of the pool and swimming if he wants, but I give him time and space. It's a good balance for us and I'm grateful to him for making this work. We've set firm boundaries that allow each other to have a break when we get out of the pool,” Ross said.
“Kayden is a tough competitor who lives for the next level of competition. He embraces new challenges and rises to the occasion. He and Enzo are both very focused, and competing at the Olympic Trials is a great honor for them both.”
Kayden's dedication to his sport is impressive. During the semester, Hedrick faces a demanding schedule, waking up at 4:15 a.m. to drive across the Causeway to the University of New Orleans pool for a 1 hour 45 minute training session before returning to Mandeville High School for classes. Proving his tireless dedication to his sport, after school he crosses the lake for another 2 hour swimming session.
“Kayden has come this far because he and his teammate Enzo have spent the last five years competing in the pool and pushing each other to get to the next level. This is an amazing, once in a lifetime accomplishment for both of them,” Ross said.
“We created a training plan that was different from the rest of my teammates. They worked hard and accepted what I asked of them. I empowered them to voice their opinions on the plan and to give me feedback on how they felt about the training. They believed in themselves and did the training that was required.”
Bonson competes in the 400m freestyle: Kayden wasn't the only swimmer from St. Tammany in Indianapolis.
Bonson, a 2020 graduate of North Shore High School and now a graduate student and swimmer at Auburn University, competed in the 400-meter freestyle with a personal best time of 3:55.07, more than half a second faster than the required time for qualifying.
“The qualifying experience was really great. I wasn't nervous at all because I've competed at high level before. It's a step up, but not many steps up,” Bonson said.
“I didn't swim my best in the preliminaries, but you don't swim perfect every time. At the end of the day, I wasn't a strong contender to make the Olympic team, but I'm very happy and very fortunate to have qualified. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm very grateful for the opportunity on such a big stage.”
Bonson finished in 58th place with a time of 3:59.48.
Bonson, a three-time All-American at Auburn University, trained for the trials for about two months, including swimming three to four miles each day.
“It's not just the training distance that's important, but also the race pace. I swim in the pool for about two hours, followed by a 45-minute weightlifting session,” Bonson said.
Longtime swimming coach Chris Prater praised Bonson's abilities.
“As a former coach, it was an honor to watch Michael swim at the Olympic Trials and be a part of his journey. He's the real deal. He's one of the top five swimmers I've ever coached,” Prater said.
“He started swimming at age 13 in the Hurricanes program and within a few years he began to excel in distance events. He was an incredibly hard worker and goal-oriented from the beginning. He just chased the goal. He got faster and faster and started to show up on college radar screens.”
Bonson, who holds several Louisiana state records, graduated cum laude from Auburn University and has one more year of eligibility remaining to continue swimming for the Tigers while pursuing a master's degree in management information systems.
“We expect Michael's final year at Auburn to be his best and most successful yet,” Prater said. “He's proven he can last a long time, his time in the water has made him faster and he's not ready to retire just yet.”
