Blaesing to continue swim journey at BGSU

PORT CLINTON — There was a time when Carlie Blaesing didn't even want to put her head below the surface of the water. The Port Clinton senior has come a long way since then. Recently, Blaesing committed to swim at the Division I level for Bowling Green State University. "It does not feel real," Blaesing said. "It still feels like I'm in sophomore year. It still feels like I'm gonna be back here next year, but no." Blaesing's father served in the U.S. Navy, so maybe she and her older brother Carter were destined to become at home in the water. They moved around growing up, as many military families do — Ohio to South Carolina to Japan to Texas and back to Ohio. Her first time fully immersed underwater actually came in the East China Sea when the family lived in Okinawa, Japan. "I was so nervous to put my head underwater," Blaesing said. "We went snorkeling one time in the East China Sea, and the entire time I was hanging onto my dad's back. I would not go under the water, even to look at the fish. He finally got me to do it, and that was the breaking point. That's when it all started." From that point on, swimming became a central part of Blaesing's life. She also runs cross country and track at Port Clinton. "I don't know why I put myself through these," Blaesing said with a laugh, "but it's paid off." The family's final move was to Port Clinton in 2015, and when Blaesing's father retired in 2017, they stayed put. PC swim coach Dan Diaz has watched Blaesing develop into a D-I swimmer. "She is extremely easy to coach," Diaz said. "She wants to get better at every opportunity. She's willing to try everything." The district swim meet is held in BGSU's pool, so Blaesing grew to appreciate that spot in the past couple seasons. But she didn't necessarily plan to swim in college. The Falcons contacted her at the end of her junior season, though, and Blaesing was sold. "I went on an official visit last spring, and that's when I knew," Blaesing said. "I was like, I think this is what I want to do. I thought I just wanted to go to college and leave swim in the past, but they offered me a scholarship, too, and I was like, this can't get any better." Blaesing competes in a number of different swims. In PC's opening meet this season, she won races in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, and she added a 200-yard individual medley win earlier this week. As a junior, Blaesing qualified for state in both the 100 free and 200 free. "I think the 100 free (is my favorite)," Blaesing said. "I'm not good enough at the 50, because it takes me a bit to build up the speed, but I have the endurance from cross country to hold on that long and push through the pain." Blaesing hadn't been an "all-year" swimmer until this past summer. Heading into her final high school season, and knowing college swimming looked to be on the horizon, pushed Blaesing to work even more on her craft. She spent time at SafeSplash Swim Labs outside of Toledo, where an underwater camera allowed her to diagnose a mechanical flaw in her stroke. Essentially, when her arms were extended forward for the "catch," her elbows were too low. "I never knew I did that until I saw myself on the video," Blaesing said. Blaesing also spent time training at Oak Harbor this summer, where long-time coach Andrea Sorg provided another helpful voice. "Andrea was wonderful," Blaesing said. "She was always on me about everything. When she noticed I'd start slipping, she'd be like hey, you've got to fix that." That all sets Blaesing up to try to better her finishes from the 2022 state meet, in which she didn't make it out of the preliminary round in either individual swim. Blaesing and Diaz haven't yet decided which races she'll focus on. That specificity normally comes around the end of the calendar year, when Diaz will check in with his swimmers to see what they feel best about. "There's always that extra edge when it's your senior year," Diaz said. "You want to be sure that you make it... She's gonna be revving to go once we figure out what she's gonna swim." However the final few months of her high school swim career turn out, Blaesing won't be done. She visited BGSU in the spring. While there, Blaesing spent time with Oak Harbor grad Elayna Krupp, a member of BGSU's team. Perkins grad Ella Crabtree joined the Falcons swim team this season. "(Krupp) was our rival for a while," Blaesing said. "I swam against her in the 100 fly and 100 free. She was so nice. I never talked to her before, and I used to be scared of her, because she was fast. But she is so humble and so nice, and her and her roommate were so welcoming, and so were the other girls on the team. It felt like home." From that visit on, Blaesing compared any contact she received from other college coaches to how she envisioned BGSU, and the Falcons always won. She didn't immediately hold a big signing ceremony, instead taking care of the official documents at home with her mother there. Only when Blaesing held a ceremony at Port Clinton last week with her friends and family there did it really start to hit her, too — swimming has taken her on quite the journey, and it isn't done yet. "When I brought it here, my mom started crying, my dad started laughing at her, and all my teammates were here," Blaesing said. "They're all these girls that I've grown up with, that I've been swimming with forever. That was a big point for me. We're grown up now."