Prep Swimming: Brolin inks letter of intent with Washington State

MORGAN HILL — All the early morning workouts, weight training and practices have paid off for Gilroy’s Anna Brolin.
The senior swimmer officially committed to Washington State University last week, signing her letter of intent at the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center in front of a crowd of about 30 people. Brolin, who also swims for the Morgan Hill Makos, smiled shyly but enjoyed her time in spotlight by posing for pictures with coaches, family, friends and teammates. She becomes the first Mako in eight years to sign a scholarship.
“It’s really, really exciting; it’s overwhelming,” Anna’s mother Denise Brolin said. “We’re just so proud of her. All those years of early morning practices, it just all paid off. All of her hard work has paid off.”
In addition to Washington State, Anna had received offers from Utah, Colorado, University of Nevada, Cal-Poly and Boise State. But the opportunity to represent the Cougars in Pullman, Wash. was just one that she couldn’t pass up.
“I liked the coach there and he did similar things to what my coach does, so I liked that,” Anna said. “I also like the conference that they’re in — they’re in the PAC-12 Conference. They get to compete against schools like Stanford and Cal-Berkley, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
After falling in gymnastics, Brolin turned her attention to swimming as way to stay involved in competitive sports. The GHS senior said she never would’ve imagined it would have led to a college scholarship, however.
It wasn’t until her freshman year at Gilroy High that she realized that she had the potential to be an elite swimmer. It was then that she buckled down and decided to do whatever it took to be the best she could be.
Through swimming in the prep season with the Mustangs and year-round with the Makos, she has been busy these past four years. Anna has been doing two-a-day practices five days a week as well as a “dry land” program — in other words, she’s been lifting weights to gain strength in her arms and legs. And of course she’s had to keep on top of her academics, too.
“I never imagined this. I imagined a scholarship, but never like DI or anything like that,” Anna said. “It’s been non-stop for me.”
Anna competes in the 100 and 200-meter breast and butterfly events , placing 42nd in the 100 fly and 45th in the 100 breast at the Central Coast Section Championships in May for Gilroy. But Makos coach Tom Lebherz said Anna really turned heads at the team’s meet in Mission Viejo earlier this year.
“She swam down there all the college coaches were there and they all saw her,” Lebherz said. “A lot of them were asking me who she is. Over the course of the last year and a half she’s really grown and developed into a really good athlete. It was just a matter of restructuring her program and pointing her in the right direction and giving her the workload we give her.”
Gilroy coach Fred Latimore said he takes no credit for Anna being as good as she is, seeing as last season was his first working with her. He did, however, sing her praises for what she was able to do for the Mustangs’ last spring.
“We’re just extremely proud that she’s a Mustang and that she’s going to move on to her next endeavor next year and represent Gilroy High,” Latimore said. “We could always count on her to record a great time for us and score points in our favor. It’s not about winning or losing, but you can always count on her to do what she has to do in the pool.”
“We’re just extremely proud that she’s a Mustang and that she’s going to move on to her next endeavor next year and represent Gilroy High. We could always count on her to record a great time for us and score points in our favor. It’s not about winning or losing, but you can always count on her to do what she has to do in the pool.”