With one year left of her athletic career, ISU junior swimmer Sam Dyshaw is already looking forward to next year’s NCAA championships.

Dyshaw, who competed in the 2003 NCAA championships in Auburn, Ala., said she enjoyed the experience of competing at a very high level of competition.

“It’s just a great opportunity to be there. I was happy to move up from my times. I was happy on how everything went and I’m pretty much excited,” Dyshaw said. “Next season is my last big chance to go out and do it. I’m going to work hard in the off-season and make a couple corrections and swim faster.”

On the third day of the preliminaries, she recorded a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.70 seconds to place 50th overall.

“I was happy with that race and I set the record on the last day of the weekend. I just came in and felt really good and dropped some time off my previous time,” Dyshaw said. “In the Big 12 championships, I was trying too hard. In the NCAA’s, I worked with coach Sorenson and we went over some stroke work. I just went out and raced.”

ISU head swimming coach Duane Sorenson said that Dyshaw made some adjustments from the Big 12 conference meet to the NCAA’s to accomplish her personal best in the 100 yard freestyle.

“At the Big 12 conference meet, she turned her arms over too fast. She was spinning her wheels and not as efficient,” Sorenson said. “At the NCAA’s, her stroke was long and strong just the way it should be.”

On the first day of the preliminaries, Dyshaw swam to a time of 23.08 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to finish in 24th place. She just missed placing by nine one-hundredths of a second.

“I knew that it was going to be close to making it to the finals,” Dyshaw said. “The competition in that event was huge. I was all right with how I did.”

Dyshaw recorded a time of 55.46 seconds on the second day of the preliminaries to place 41st in the 100-yard butterfly.

“She was aggressive for three-quarters of the race, then she tightened up a bit in the last quarter,” Sorenson said. “But overall, I’m happy with her performance and the way she attacked the race.”

Dyshaw said she struggled the most after the turn in the event.

“For the first 75 yards, everything was clicking. But when I turned around and swam back, I just didn’t have it,” Dyshaw said. “Overall, I was happy on how I did. I will work hard this summer to keep the power toward the end.”

Sorenson said that Dyshaw performed well in all three days of the championships.

“It was a very positive experience for her. It was a little eye-opening for her as well,” Sorenson said. “You gain a lot of confidence in the NCAA’s with the best of the world competing. Many of the swimmers over there will be in the 2004 Olympics in different countries.”