Nelson's leap to pool ends up holding water

Vernon Hills junior Cliff Nelson played basketball as a freshman.

The 5-foot-6 Nelson, who carries a 4.3 weighted GPA, made a logical decision to switch sports going into his sophomore season.

"I'm not incredibly tall so it was not something I saw a future in," he said. "I had a lot of friends who swim, and my mom wanted me to swim because I was kind of good at it when I was little."

He has proved to be quite good in high school as well.

Although he had never been a competitive swimmer, he alternated between the Vernon Hills junior varsity and varsity as a sophomore. This season, he's progressed to the point where he has an outside chance to break the school record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:48). His best time is 1:56, but he seems to improve with each race.

"He's the type of kid where we re-evaluate his goals almost weekly," coach Kedric Greenawalt said. "He was able to attain (many) of his goals before the end of the season."

Nelson was far from polished when he tried out for the team last year, but Greenawalt immediately liked his competitiveness and persistence.

"He wasn't quite fast enough to make the team right away, but I saw something in him to keep him around," Greenawalt said. "He was the type of kid that was so hard working that we needed to have him on the squad. We allowed him time to develop, and he caught on to everything really quick. He's now one of the three fastest kids on the team."

Nelson credits Greenawalt with getting him up to speed quickly.

"He's made the difference between being mediocre and getting to the point of taking it to the next level," Nelson said.

When he wasn't swimming, Nelson found time over the summer to train for the Chicago Marathon. He would probably have completed the race at about a 4-hour pace, but race organizers forced many of the participants to walk the final stages because of the extreme heat. Nelson walked the last six miles and crossed the finish line in about 5½ hours.

He also helps foster dogs find quality homes through Animal Education and Rescue, a Libertyville-based organization.

Nelson's next challenge on the endurance front is a half-ironman triathlon in July in Racine, Wis. He is training with teammate George Andreev.

"I already have a swimming and running background so a triathlon seemed like the way to go," he said.

Before that, he hopes to continue his steady progress in the pool.

"I'm not looking to qualify for state yet, but I'm eyeing the 200 freestyle record," Nelson said. "It's a lot of time to drop, but tapered I think it's doable."