Dec. 12, 2005
By Scott MacDonald – Georgia Tech freshman swimmer Caroline Jones was supposed to add depth and consistency when the Yellow Jackets signed her last season and added her to the roster in 2005-06. After several first-place finishes, three Tech top times this season and one personal-best time, Jones has provided a little more than depth for the Jackets.
“I knew that she was very capable of swimming fast,” said head coach Stu Wilson. “I am a little surprised of the adjustment she’s made from her club and high school teams to our program, as far as training, but that has contributed to how well she’s swum in the first part of our season.”
A native of St. Simons, Ga., Jones got involved with swimming when she was nine-years-old. She began swimming in a summer league and loved it enough to stick with it. She swam for the Brunswick Swim Team over the next coming summers and competed at Glynn Academy High School.
“I just really enjoyed swimming,” said Jones. “Anything that is really fun, you tend to stick with it.”
Glynn Academy is sure glad that Jones stuck with it. During her four years she won Georgia state titles in the 200-yard freestyle, 100 backstroke and 400 free relay, garnered All-American honors in the 200 free, 100 back, 400 free relay and 200 medley relay, and was tabbed Georgia State Female Swimmer of the Year as a senior.
“It was pretty rewarding to do as well as I did in high school,” said Jones. “I knew that college was going to be a lot tougher. Girls are bigger and faster.”
Jones then made the decision to continue her swimming, and academic, career at Georgia Tech. In a few short months, she already holds top-10 times in Tech history in the 200 free (1:51.92), 100 back (59.25) and 200 back (2:03.15). Jones’ 200 free time is already second all-time, her personal-best mark in the 200 back ranks third and 100 back time stands sixth all-time.
“I didn’t think getting a PR would come this fast,” said Jones. “But I know that I’m going to go even faster as the year goes on. We have been training really hard, so these times should get better when it counts.”
“Caroline’s club coach, Thad Schultz, did a great job with her training and letting her train for several different events like distance and IM,” said Wilson. “Now she can focus on sprint freestyle and backstroke events, which provides her with an opportunity to go faster and get stronger.”
Jones admits that the training can get pretty intense at the collegiate level. In high school, her club and high school coach did not believe in lifting weights, so she never did until she got to Tech.
“My previous coach did not want us lifting weights because he wanted us to improve in college,” said Jones. “Now, I’m lifting on a consistent basis and it’s really helped out.”
Not only is the training more difficult for Jones, but the fact that she has to take care of herself and self-motivate for studying can also be a daunting task for any freshman.
“The biggest difference is that I have to do a lot of more stuff on my own,” said Jones. “When you’re in high school, you take a lot of things for granted such as laundry and cooking. Academics and swimming is a lot tougher too.”
Outside of swimming, Jones has formed bonding relationships with her teammates.
“I like how the team is so close and how we do everything together most of the time,” said Jones. “That and we have to walk everywhere because we don’t have cars.”
Jones and the Yellow Jackets will train for the next month before hosting Savannah College after the New Year on Jan. 7, 2006. Tech will compete in the Women’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, Feb. 15-18, and Men’s ACC Championships, Feb. 22-25, in College Park, Md. The Jackets will also host the Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 23-25, in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
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