Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
Trace Rhode
NAME: Trace Rhode
PARENTS: George and Angela Rhode
SIBLINGS: Jacob Rhode
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: History
FAVORITE SPARE TIME ACTIVITY: Listening to podcasts
FAVORITE FOOD: Steak
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: Eminem
FAVORITE MOVIE: Deadpool
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Community
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY WHEN YOU WERE A KID? Legos
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? I plan to graduate from UCA with an education degree and teach high school history.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO’S HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? HOW? Onat Tungac. As my swim coach, he’s taught me quite a lot over the many years I’ve known him. And I don’t think there could have been a better man to deal with me all these years.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT SWIMMING? My favorite thing about swimming is definitely the people. Hanging out with your friends and enjoying the competition is really what it’s all about for me.
EVENT(S): My best event is the 500.
APPROACH TO YOUR EVENTS? My approach is to start off with a decent pace then ramp it up as the race continues. Accepting the fact that you’ll want to die by the end also seems to help.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? It hasn’t been the best season of my career but I can’t really complain as band took up so much of the early season I’ve only just gotten back into a really good shape.
WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SEASON? Definitely at district when it was the last race of the meet. I caught up to the other guy (who was at least half a pool length ahead of me. Even though we lost it was only by a few seconds and it was still the most exciting race of my life.
WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE SEASON? Seasons over, however I will say looking to the future an increase of self discipline in the swimmers is going to be required due to the declining number of swimmers on the team. The days of sitting back and knowing victory is assured are gone now and this team needs to step it up a notch if they want to keep the streak we’ve been building over the last seven years.
TALK ABOUT YOUR SWIMMING NOW; WHAT ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITY TO DO? I’d say I’m most confident in my ability to show up and swim my races and give my 100 percent.
WHAT DO YOU WORK HARDEST TO IMPROVE ON IN PRACTICE? I’ve really been playing catch-up all year. At the beginning of the season marching band took four out of the five weekdays and I only had one day to swim. So really my only task at that time was to try and keep up with everyone else, and only now have I managed to get back to where I was last year.
WHEN YOU’RE THROUGH SWIMMING FOR BRYANT HIGH SCHOOL, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL LOOK BACK AND REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE? I think I’ll most fondly remember the times I spent with my friends and all the fun we had.
