Venlos, VanOost finishing careers on a high note

Swimming pools are expensive things to build, so not every school in the state has one.

Devoted swimmers are another story. Sporting passion does not begin and end with a school's facilities, so there are die-hard devotees in many pockets around Illinois in otherwise aquatics-free districts.

Two of these swimmers are St. Edward senior Megan Venlos and Burlington Central senior Courtney Van Oost.

In a sense, it's the worst possible scenario, being a swimmer when your school doesn't even have a pool let alone a full-time team.

But the state allows such die-hards an opportunity to swim for their schools in the postseason sectional and state meets, so Venlos and Van Oost have been two-week high school swimmers the past four years.

In a way, the pair have taken similar roads to reach the level at which they are performing. But each has also found her own way to success in the sport they both love. For each, the high school road ends this weekend when the state meet takes place at New Trier. Venlos finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle at the St. Charles Eats sectional and was second in the 100 freestyle. Van Oost qualified after winning the 100 butterfly and swimming to second place in the 100 backstroke.

Venlos and her family live in Sleepy Hollow, which is where her swimming story begins.

"I've been swimming competitively since I was 6," Venlos said. "When I was little, I hated it. I hated getting my face wet. I hated jumping into the water. I took a few private lessons and the girl who gave those to me told me to try out for the local swim team. I did and I loved it and I've never stopped."

From that early time, Venlos swam for the Dundee Dolphins. She shifted to the St. Charles Swim Club in eighth grade.

"I've been doing this my whole life," Venlos said. "I have days when I'm frustrated and I'll tell my mom 'I hate swimming and I don't want to do it any more.' But my mom know knows it's just me being frustrated. I really love the sport and I want to do it for the next four years of my life. I've gained so much through it and made so many friends."

Not that it's been necessarily easy to commute to St. Charles every day for swim practice or to juggle high school studies with swim practices.

"My parents both work and they had to find time to drive me to swimming," Venlos said. "Swimming is an absolutely huge part of my life. If dictates my schedule and what I do. It's part of who I am. People at school, they kind of know me as 'the swimmer' and that's fine. I can't imagine my life without it. I'm thankful I've had t support of my parents going to practices and putting up with me when I'm tired and cranky."

Venlos has committed to the University of Idaho, where she intends to study to one day become a veterinarian. She said many of the lessons she has learned through swimming in high school will help her as she continues to juggle athletics and academics in college.

"I've learned a lot about time management. It's taught me to push myself to set goals and to want to do well. It's great to dedicate your time to something that's just for fun but that only takes you so far. Swimming has taught me about the importance of having a work ethic and to have something to reach for."

In fact, one of the reasons Venlos chose Idaho was because of its academics.

"I wanted to go far away," Venlos said. "I went there and I loved the team and the coaches and the university. They put academics first. Vet degrees are pretty competitive. I'm going to have a lot to do."

At the state meet, Venlos said she may sit with one group of St. Charles swimmers. Her club coaches include St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel and St. Charles North coach Rob Rooney.

"Both teams and the coaches are totally welcoming to me," Venlos said. "They let me sit with them and warm up with them. They're my teammate most of the year and both (Cable and Rooney) are my coaches. I am lucky to have all those people supporting me, even though I'm not a part of their high school swim teams."

Venlos is seeded 8th in the 100 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle, leaving her with a good chance to advance to Saturday's finals in at least one of her events.

"I'm seeded way better than I have been in the past," Venlos said. "I had a really good sectional meet, but I am confident I will swim a lot faster this weekend when I have finished my taper. My goal is to make Top 6. I'm also trying to make my Junior National cuts for the Junior National Meet at Ohio State in December. I'm very close and could do that this weekend."

Venlos describes her swimming existence as "the best of both worlds. I get to swim with my club team and coaches and I get to train with them and then swim at the big high school meets. When I get to college next year, that will be the first time that I've really been part of a team. The club team is very large. But I love St. Ed's. Everyone is so supportive and I am so proud to represent them at the sectional meet and the state meet."

Like Venlos, Van Oost has a school pride that leaves her looking forward to her annual move to high school competition. And like Venlos, she is a lifetime swimmer. Her particular journey began in Cary.

"My older sister, Alex, we did some swim lessons when we were younger," Van Oost said. "She decided to join the swim team. And I just sort of followed her."

Alex Van Oost is a freshman swimmer this year at Western Kentucky University. At some point, however, Courtney found her own love for the sport.

"When I started, I saw (Alex) doing it and it looked like fun," Courtney Van Oost said. "It looked like fun. It just kind of grew on me."

The Van Oosts moved into the Central district the year before Courtney's freshman year. She has been a swimmer with the Academy Bullets for three years - meaning she has to commute to Marmion Academy every day for practice.

"I want to be involved in swimming," Van Oost said. "It's kind of become a passion for me. I can't see my life without swimming. It takes a big chunk of my day after school. I'm not home until 9 after practice. But my younger sister (Kristin) and I, we have fun. It's something we love to do."

Van Oost said she will sit near the Rosary team during the state meet. Beads coach Bill Schalz is also one of her club coaches. Van Oost enters the state meet as the No. 14 seed in a competitive butterfly field. She is also seeded 17th in the 100 backstroke.

"The state meet is so much different than any other meet," Van Oost said. "There's so much excitement. When you step in there, it makes you energetic and get pumped for your race. (Schalz) takes care of me and makes sure I know where to go. He makes you a part of their team, in a way."

Competing for Central has been a particular pleasure for Van Oost. She said she looks forward to wearing the blue cap with a large "C" on it every high school postseason. And she knows her family will be in the stands cheering her on this weekend.

When the meet is over, her high school career will be over. She has already committed to swim in college for the University of Northern Colorado, where she intends to pursue a degree in Business.

"I enjoy showing people that I swim and that I have this talent," Van Oost said. "It's always nice to hear people say 'I didn't know we had a swim team' and to get the positive feedback from it. I have Junior Nationals in April and I'm training to go to that meet. And then there is college. I'm glad I've been in a sport that teaches you how to manage your time."

Time. Swimming is all about time. And for Megan Venlos and Courtney Van Oost, they haven't got much time left as high school swimmers. But both have certainly made the most of their brief annual time in which they competed as high schoolers.