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At the time, it was what Snider senior swimmer Amalia Kobelja said, but not quite what she meant.
Kobelja acknowledged being disappointed with two runner-up finishes in last year’s state meet, but not discouraged, thus providing the real motivation for her final high school season.
“I read the (newspaper) article afterward, and it really sounded like I wasn’t happy with my performance,” she said. “But I was very happy with my performance, but what I was trying to say was I am very, very motivated for this year. It is my senior year; I definitely want to end it right. I know what I can do. It just fell a little short last year, and maybe that just happened for a reason, and I am supposed to go out with a bang.”
Kobelja, who is part Croatian and part Cambodian, finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and 200 individual medley to a pair of Carmel swimmers in (the graduated) Jessie Hammes and (senior) Trish Regan.
Snider coach Chris Knoblauch is looking more for an upgrade in times and not so much in the finish. Kobelja swam a 56.12 in the 100 back and a 2:03.56 in the 200 IM.
“The state meet has always been a tricky meet for us,” he said. “She has been great right up until the state meet. She almost got the two firsts last year, but she was second in the two events. This year our goal is to repeat that performance. I am not so concerned about the place as much as bettering the times that she has already achieved.
“In the individual medley, you need four solid strokes, and we have really focused in on finishing that freestyle of her IM better. That will be key for us in winning. She just has to have that closing speed that she did not have last year that kind of held her back in the last 50.”
Knoblauch said he doesn’t see a problem in Kobelja’s work ethic.
“The thing that has made her good over the past 6, 7 years is that she is very meticulous on doing things correctly,” he said. “No matter what it is, she wants to do it as perfectly as possible. That’s the one thing that has kind of set her apart from some of the other kids that maybe are hard working but don’t understand the finer points that you need to have to be successful at that next level that she’s at.”
Part of the improvement could come mentally.
Kobelja, who is No. 1 in the state in the backstroke and No. 3 in the IM, traveled to the Olympic Training Center during the summer to learn about different aspects of training. She got to compete and practice alongside the two swimmers who bested her in the state finals.
“We all became really good friends,” said Kobelja, who will swim at the University of Richmond next year. “It is cool to practice with your competitors because it is really motivating. They put a lot of things into perspective there, nutrition, practice and techniques, things like that.
“I have been putting in a different focus in my swimming this year. I am not focusing so much on myself. As a senior, I have been taking charge of a lot of different things and try to make our program better.”
