Two ISU swimmers will soon finish another chapter of a story that already spans almost 15 years.

Rena Kelinson and Kristen Vanek were 8 years old when they first competed against each other. Now, along with Carmella Nogar, they comprise a small but tightly-knit senior class on the Cyclone swimming team.

“It’s kind of funny,” Kelinson said. “I have a video of us swimming next to each other when we were 10.”

Kelinson grew up in Rock Island, Ill., while Vanek lived in Peoria, Ill., about 90 minutes away. Despite their competition, and the friendship that grew out of it, their choices to come to Iowa State were made independently.

They both happened to attend the same recruiting session as high school seniors, which was the first time each one learned how serious the other was about Iowa State. Kelinson was ready to commit to Iowa State by January, but Vanek did not make her decision until April.

Upon entering Iowa State, neither Kelinson nor Vanek knew Nogar, who is from Los Alamos, N.M. In fact, almost no one did.

“I had my brother,” Nogar said. “He’s the only person at Iowa State I knew coming in.”

Nogar’s brother, Josh, was a member of the now defunct ISU men’s swimming program. He was the one who connected women’s coach Duane Sorenson with Carmella.

Kelinson and Vanek quickly helped make Nogar feel at home in Ames.

“I was really lucky to get Kristen as my roommate,” Nogar said. “We have lived together for the last four years.”

Though all three girls had excelled prior to college, their areas of competition changed dramatically once they arrived at Iowa State. In high school, Vanek had been a sprinter, but Sorenson encouraged her to shift her focus to longer races.

“I realized that was what my body was better for,” Vanek said. “I would never have known that if Duane wouldn’t have recognized it in me.”

“That’s a very hard change,” Sorenson said. “It’s a very large challenge. She accepted it.”

Kelinson’s change was the opposite of Vanek’s. Primarily a long-distance swimmer in high school, she began to focus on shorter races once she arrived at Iowa State. The change worked to her advantage, as she now holds the school record in the 50-meter freestyle.

Holding a school record was not on Kelinson’s radar when she entered Iowa State.

“It was intimidating,” she said. “There were lots of fast girls.”

The issue for Nogar was not changing events, but rather choosing which ones to focus on.

“She’s one of the most versatile athletes we’ve had at Iowa State,” Sorenson said. “Trying to decide which event for her to swim in is the biggest challenge, because she is talented in so many races.”

Races have provided many of the high points over the careers of these seniors. One of the low points was something beyond their control. In 2001, Iowa State dropped men’s swimming.

“We were devastated,” Vanek said. “They were like half of our team.”

“I was really upset,” Nogar said. “We were just as upset as the men’s team.”

Her brother, Josh, had the melancholy distinction of being a member of the final senior class of men’s swimmers at Iowa State.

Kelinson, Vanek and Nogar have seen their last home meet come and go, but their season is not yet finished. The team will travel to Austin, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships this Wednesday through Saturday.

“I think our team is really well prepared going into conference,” Nogar said. “We’ve come together so well this season.”

According to Sorenson, host Texas, ranked fourth nationally, is favored to win the meet. Where Iowa State might finish is hard to predict.

“I told the team, we could have an outstanding meet and get second place, or we could have an outstanding meet and get fifth place,” Sorenson said.

After this weekend, the season will be over, except for those who qualify for the NCAA championships. But the seniors plan to keep tabs on their former teammates in the future.

“Absolutely,” Nogar said.