It may have taken Steph Schaeffer until her final opportunity of the season to qualify for districts in the 100-yard butterfly, but she didn't waste any time at the last chance meet to be sure to swim her way into the postseason.

In the butterfly event, Schaeffer picked up a win easily qualified for districts, finishing roughly 2.5 seconds faster than the time she needed to qualify. Schaeffer also attempted to qualify in the 100-yard breaststroke, but fell short of the necessary time in that event.

Schaeffer believes the process of tapering - where swimmers reduce their practice workload - helped her to qualify in the 100-yard butterfly.

"You focus on your stroke and sprinting a lot and cooling down," Schaeffer said. "We cut down our yardage a lot, probably in half, and be sure to stretch a lot, stay hydrated and eating healthy is important, too."

Schaeffer, a senior, was enthusiastic after the meet and it seemed to be sinking in that she's winding up her high school career very quickly.

"It's crazy. I can't believe I'm a senior and it went so fast. Words can't describe the feeling," said Schaeffer.

While her high school career is winding down, Schaeffer has her college plans all set and appears to have a bright future ahead of her. In the fall, Schaeffer will start college at Kutztown, majoring in communication design. In other words, Schaeffer will be one of the people making programs for the cell phones of the future and designing web sites. You might think a high school student being interested in cell phones and computers is just natural, but Schaeffer chose the career for very logical reasons.

"I didn't always know what I wanted to do. I knew I was artistic, but I wasn't clear on where I wanted to go with that," said Schaeffer. "I think the Internet and all of the new phones and devices coming out will make it a good path to go down."

As for choosing Kutztown, their arts program was attractive to Schaeffer and she found another plus to attending the school. It will provide her the opportunity to be away from home, but not too far away.

"I didn't really think I was going to stay close to home, but it's a plus," laughed Schaeffer about the location of the school.

Schaeffer's love for arts and the fact that she has a creative side goes hand-in-hand with other members of the swim team like Greg Ritchie and Marc Primelo, who both have very musical interests. Schaeffer didn't know if there is any direct connection between creativity and swimming, but for her and her team, she thinks it does play a role.

"We're all very close and that just makes us closer, being creative," Schaeffer said. "Maybe swimming just helped to bring all of that creativity out."