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The Barron Collier swim staff’s secret weapon is a 15-year-old.
Coming off a breakthrough summer time, freshman Abi Burke is diving straight into highschool success, breaking data along with her occasions and serving to to foster staff success for the Cougars.
With a degree head and powerful help system, Burke is poised for a noteworthy profession not simply due to her versatile skillset however due to the real pleasure she finds within the pool.
“I’ve just always had fun with it – it’s the most important part,” she mentioned.
Burke is in for a whirlwind few months along with her first highschool postseason, an invitation to USA Swimming’s National Select Camp, and participation within the Speedo Winter Junior National Championships in Indianapolis all on her plate.
The year-round schedule, alongside along with her each day coaching regiment, makes swimming a grueling sport for a child, however Burke’s method – molded partially by her dad and mom, who’ve loads of expertise – has her off to a quick begin.
“I’m really glad she enjoys it,” her mom, Nicole Burke, mentioned. “I’m really glad she has so much fun with it because it’s not an easy sport. It’s a lot of grind, a lot of time with that black line.”
Abi Burke’s mom swam on the University of Florida, and her father Sean Burke competed at Fordham University.
Though the chlorine may need been in her blood, her dad and mom by no means pressured her to get into the game. She started taking classes six years in the past when she was dwelling in Connecticut.
All the whereas, she ran monitor, performed tennis, skied, and in addition took up crusing, taekwondo, and ballet.
“That was always so important to my parents was getting to experience other sports,” Burke mentioned. “They never wanted to force swimming upon me. … I’ve dipped my toes in a fair amount of waters.”
At 12, Burke, who swims for the membership staff T2 Aquatics in Naples, acquired her first USA Swimming National Top 10 rating in her age group.
As she constructed on that success, Burke finally determined final yr to chop off the opposite sports activities to concentrate on swimming.
“I knew that swimming was what I wanted to do, and being pretty good at it is a bonus because I just have so much fun with it,” Burke mentioned.
Her dad and mom noticed the expertise she possessed however wished to see that she had a ardour for the game.
“She’s got to love it,” Nicole Burke mentioned. “It’s got to come from her because, if it doesn’t come from her, then we’ll do something different.”
Over the summer time, Burke competed in USA Swimming’s Future Championships in Ocala with T2 Aquatics.
Burke had 5 podium finishes, together with a first-place end within the 50-meter freestyle and a third-place end within the 200-meter freestyle.
In her younger profession, she’s had six USA Swimming National Top 10 rankings in her age group and posted the highest time within the nation within the 200-meter freestyle amongst 14-year-olds.
She additionally cracked the all-time prime 100 checklist in 4 occasions and recorded the 18th-fastest time in historical past for 13-to-14-year-old women within the 100-meter freestyle – simply forward of Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel’s time at that age.
Her efficiency over the previous yr has her ranked 57th on this planet for 18-and-under swimmers.
At the state degree, Burke completed her Florida swimming age group profession, successful 10 occasions over her last two state championship meets.
Burke has stored her perspective in a sport that has its share of uneven waters.
“Florida is such a competitive state and there’s always somebody better, so I have a lot of close friends who are a lot better than me,” she mentioned.
At the Futures meet, Burke bought to race in opposition to Florida phenom Rylee Erisman for the primary time. Erisman, 16, swam the quickest 18-and-under 100-meter free (52.79) to win gold on the 2025 World Junior Championships over the summer time.
“She’s definitely one of my role models,” Burke mentioned of Erisman. “She’s only a little bit older than me, but it’s so cool to see her compete.”
With states developing in November, Burke wish to earn All-American standing along with her occasions and transfer nearer to her aim of cracking the junior nationwide staff.
She has acclimated to highschool swimming rapidly. At the Tarpon Invitational in September, Burke broke South County Regional Park Pool data in each the 200-meter particular person medley and the 100-meter butterfly.
At her first Collier County Athletic Conference Championships, she received each occasions and swam the anchor leg within the Cougars’ successful 400-meter freestyle relay, serving to the Barron Collier women come out on prime of the occasion.
“More than anything, it’s her spirit and attitude and just the fact that she enjoys being around all the other kids, no matter what their level is,” Barron Collier head coach Matthew Nelson mentioned. “That’s really what makes her special.”
At the CCAC meet earlier this month, one of the vital aggressive races was the women’ 100-meter butterfly. Burke defeated Naples sophomore Mila Buchanan, a fifth-place Class 2A state medalist within the occasion final yr, by lower than half a second to take first place.
Burke and Buchanan, teammates at T2 Aquatics, fortunately chatted together with the pool after the race.
“Mila’s my teammate, so I get to train with her every day, so we’re always going head-to-head in practice, and it’s a ton of fun,” Burke mentioned. “Our fly practices – they can be brutal sometimes, but it’s fun to have that person. You never know who’s going to win when you dive in.”
T2 Aquatics, led by coaches Tom Yetter and Eric Nelson, has been a supply of help for the younger swimmer. Burke has many shut buddies by way of T2, regardless that they’re on completely different highschool groups.
“You can’t get the swim community anywhere else,” she mentioned. “Everybody is super close. I know people all over the state of Florida, even this zone of different states. Everybody is super supportive.”
Burke has relished the staff ambiance of highschool swimming, and her coach believes she already wields important affect on the staff.
“I’m really also excited to see how well she develops the other swimmers, particularly the ones that are in her relays that look up to her and are good friends of hers,” Nelson mentioned. “They get inspired when they’re swimming with her to swim good times themselves.”
That energy of camaraderie in swimming was evident when Burke bought an opportunity to observe her idols Katie Ledecky and Lilly King swim an exhibition race at a University of Florida meet in January.
She ended up assembly each and took photos along with her heroes.
“I was totally starstruck,” Burke mentioned. “They’re so cool.”
Barron Collier hasn’t lacked impactful swimmers in recent times with the likes of Mason Laur and Andrew Garner main the Cougars to their first state championship in 2019.
However, what Burke has dropped at the desk as a freshman is one thing distinctive for Nelson, who has coached the Cougars for almost twenty years.
“As a total swimmer, she’s probably the best I’ve seen as a freshman,” he mentioned. “No – she is the best I’ve seen as a freshman.”
Burke has entered highschool swimming with good approach on each stroke, naturally good begins and turns, and a capability to win in nearly any occasion.
“I like to swim a little bit of everything,” Burke mentioned. “I like to stay diverse.”
Burke’s greatest races are freestyle, however she has competed within the particular person medley and butterfly for a lot of the season.
“Fortunately, she’s a real team player and really wants to help the team in any way she can, so that makes it easy to be able to do that,” Nelson mentioned. “There’s freedom to plug her in where we really need her against whatever our competition is.”
Burke will probably return to swimming her greatest occasions in the highschool postseason.
“I’m just excited to see her develop, and I’m curious to see how she develops as far as which events may end up being her best because, right now, she’s like clay, she can pretty much be modeled to swim anything,” Nelson mentioned.
Burke didn’t grow to be this polished in a single day. Since the sixth grade, she has been competing year-round with a few week break within the spring and summer time.
On a weekly foundation, she trains with T2 Aquatics and Beyond Motion, spending eight periods within the pool in addition to time understanding “on land” within the fitness center, and leaving Sunday as her someday off.
Outside of swimming, Burke enjoys baking, babysitting, and spending time along with her canine Scout.
Nicole Burke believes the friendships her daughter has solid by way of the game has helped her get by way of the difficult occasions.
“Everyone dives in and wants to win, right?” Nicole Burke mentioned. “But bring each other up, do this together, work together, get better together, and that’s the main thing we think is really important, and I see her do that with, not just her friends on her team, but around the state of Florida. All her really amazing friendships that she has, and they push each other and they support each other, and I think that really helps in a tough sport.”
Burke will journey to Colorado Springs to be part of the USA Swimming’s roster for the National Select Camp from Oct. 23-26, the place she’s going to prepare with the highest 14- and 15-year-olds within the nation the Olympic Training Center.
The camp can function a pipeline to the junior nationwide staff.
“Training at altitude, I heard, is something – it’ll be cool to experience that,” Burke mentioned. “They said we’ll get to experience what the day in the life of a national team member is there while we’re there. It’ll be really cool. It’ll be a great learning experience.”
About 30 years in the past, Nicole Burke was chosen to take part in the identical camp.
Nicole Burke not too long ago confirmed her daughter a binder stuffed with mementos from her first invite in 1995.
“I was like, ‘Learn as much as you can, soak in as much as you can and just enjoy the process,’” she mentioned. “You’re going to meet some really cool people. You’re going to make some great friends.”
Though Burke’s dad and mom let her select her personal path, their steerage has been one thing Abi has been in a position to lean on as she makes her manner.
“I am so, so grateful that they never pushed me to do anything, they never forced me to go to practice,” she mentioned. “They’re totally chill about it, but they can give insight when I do need it, when I do need advice.”
Burke approaches her swimming objectives with a level of realism because of this. She would possibly rub elbows with future Olympians, however she will not be setting that benchmark for herself simply but.
“I’d love to swim at a top college,” she mentioned. “I’d like to make the next Olympic trials. Making the Olympic team, I’d never want to set that goal for myself because it can come down to a hundredth of a second. You can be so good and be good enough to make the Olympic team and not make it.”
More than something, swimming has helped Burke enhance her confidence – out and in of the pool.
“I’ve had to learn how to handle myself at the tough meets at the beginning of the season where you’re swimming four events in the span of two hours,” she mentioned. “I’ve worked with some great mentors who have helped me become more confident and helped me be more time manageable. You also learn about how you can do the hard things, and you can go through that.”
Baldwin was a first-place finisher within the 50 free and 100 free on the CCAC meet. She certified for the Class 2A state meet within the 100 breast and 200 IM final season.
Buchanan completed runner-up within the 200 IM and 100 fly on the CCAC meet. Last yr, she got here in fifth place within the fly on the Class 2A state meet and in addition certified within the 100 breast.
Chappell received the 200 free on the Tarpon Invite in September and got here in second within the 200 IM on the LCAC meet. Last yr, he certified for the Class 3A state meet within the 200 free and 500 free, ending in seventh place within the latter occasion.
Mokhiber took house a pair of Private 8 titles within the 200 free and 500 free this season. Last yr, she certified for each occasions on the Class 1A state meet and received the district title within the 500 free.
Richley-Klein is the world’s prime returning diver after coming in second place within the occasion on the Class 2A state meet final yr. He received the diving occasion on the CCAC meet.
Saari certified for the Class 1A state meet within the 50 and 100 free final yr. He was this yr’s champion within the 50 free and 100 breast on the Tarpon Invitational.
Seluk was the LCAC champion within the 100 fly and 500 free. At the Class 2A state meet final season, she got here in second within the 500 free after successful district and regional titles within the occasion.
Shapovalov is coming off a LCAC meet the place he received the 200 IM and 100 again. Last season, he received the district title within the 100 again and completed runner-up at regionals.
Tedhams got here out on prime within the 50 free and 100 free on the LCAC meet. He certified for the Class 3A state meet within the 200 free and 500 free final season.
Last season, Vetor certified for the Class 2A state meet within the 200 IM and 100 breast, ending in eighth place within the latter occasion. Vertor received this yr’s CCAC title within the 100 breast.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/sports/high-school/2025/10/22/freshman-swimmer-abi-burke-succeeding-barron-collier-usa-swimming-fhsaa-swimming/86678989007/
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This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
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