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Show State champion Tanya Isom is coaching Prospector Athletic Club swimmers J :r f ?Ff it ' V v . . ' ' ' by Nan Chalat When Tanya Isom swims across the Prospector Athletic Club pool she leaves a sizable wake behind her. And if there are people in neighboring lanes they find themselves them-selves being lapped almost effortlessly. effort-lessly. Since high school, Isom, who is now a senior at the University of Utah, has spent more than two and a half hours a day, six days a week in the water. While swimming for Cottonwood High School in 1980 and 1981 she set a new state record for the 100-yard breaststroke 1 minute 14 seconds. That record has since been broken, she said, but her 50-yard record (also breatstroke) still stands. After graduating from Cottonwood, Cotton-wood, Isom made the swim team at the University of Utah and later .became its captain. She helped the... team move toward the top of thV' National University Conference League, where she was ranked as one of the top eight women in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. "The swimming started when I was a little girl," Isom said. "You know how some kids have bowling trophies? Well, I had tons of medals for synchronized swimming. But no one knew anything about synchronized syn-chronized then and finally there was no where to go competitively." So Isom turned to racing, working out up to five hours a day on weights and running to stay in shape. She continued to rake in the medals. Last year for a summer vacation she took a job lifeguarding in San Diego. "It was one of the toughest things I've ever done. Sometimes it was scary swimming out in the ocean all alone," she said. But when the summer was over Isom felt differently about swimming pools. Now she prefers open water and said someday she would like a try a triathlon. This winter, however, she has applied her talents to teaching at the Prospector Athletic Club. Several mornings a week she leads a adult endurance swim class. "It's really a supervised workout in the pool," she said. During the class she corrects strokes and shows her students how to swim intervals to improve their strength. In the evenings Isom offers assistance in the weight room at the i athletic jlubj by drawing ud, personalized exercise programs. "The coaching doesn't cost our members anything extra and we can show people how to avoid hurting themselves on the machines," she said. W hen Isom isn' t at school or at the athletic club she can be found teaching skiing at ParkWest. "I especially like working with the kids," she said. Isom said she enjoys coaching and designed her endurance swim class with next summer's triathletes in mind. For more information about the class or to make an appointment for personalized coaching in the weight room call 649-6672. Aquatic athlete Tanya Isom will make waves with members of the Prospector Square Athletic Club's endurance swim ClaSS. photo by Nan Chalat |
