Rosary grad's Olympic bid falls short

Former Rosary High School swimming standout Mary Descenza thought she had nothing to lose a few weeks ago in Omaha, Neb., where the U.S. Olympic trials took place in late June and early July.

The 2002 Rosary grad competed in three events - the 200-meter butterfly, the 200 backstroke and the 100 butterfly - but failed to qualify for the Olympic team.

She needed to finish in the top two in an event but earned a pair of fourth-place finished and sixth in the 100 butterfly.

"I saw myself as the underdog," Descenza said. "I wanted to do my own thing. I didn't want anyone else to have an effect on the way I swam."

Descenza, who graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007, obviously wanted to qualify.

"I'd by lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," she said.

But the swimmer in her knows she wants to keep competing. That's why she will participate in seven events at the U.S. Open, which takes place in Minneapolis, starting today.

"I'm just going to go out there and have fun," the 22-year-old said.

Descenza now lives in Georgia and hasn't been back to the area in about a year. The native of Naperville said her parents moved to New York two years ago, but she still has family and friends in the area.

After the U.S. Open, she plans on taking a road trip back to where it all started before getting back to swimming in September.

One of the people she still keeps in contact with is her former (and current) coach at Rosary, Bill Schalz. He went to see her swim in Omaha and said she's made a terrific run since high school.

"She didn't make the Olympic team, but she's had a great career," he said. "She's done some great things."