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Eye On The Prize

Yuchnitz Caps Banner Career With Top 10 Finish At States

Panama senior Karianne Yuchnitz had quite a weekend at Ithaca College, highlighted by her 50-yard freestyle race where she finished sixth among New York State Public High School Athletic Association and eighth in the Federation. Photos by Deb Bailey

PANAMA — In the swimming and diving community, the 50-yard freestyle has a reputation as a difficult race to swim well. Many of the same rules to success are shared with the 100-meter sprint that so many track athletes spend their careers trying to perfect.

Athletes have just a split second to get the start right, and a small amount of time to try and empty every bit of their gas tank in the final push to the wall.

It is a race where the already small margin for error that comes with swim sprints is shortened just a little bit more.

“That race is one of the hardest races for the simple fact that it is a start, a sprint and a turn,” said Panama head coach Todd Conklin. “Any bad thing — a missed turn or a slow start or anything at that kind of level — can take you totally out of the race.”

The tight tolerances of the 50 can rattle the nerves of some swimmers, but that has never been the case for one of Conklin’s most accomplished athletes–Karianne Yuchnitz.

In her final year in the pool, the senior was able to leave everything in the water one more time at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships at Ithaca College.

Yuchnitz came home with the sixth-fastest NYSPHSAA time of 24.03, taking eighth in the Federation and earning a medal in the process.

“Our talk before the (preliminary) race was very simple: give it your best, get in the top 10and Saturday is a whole other ball of wax,” said Conklin.

Yuchnitz swam a 23.96 in her first race of the weekend, earning a spot in Saturday’s fast final.

“She has great reflexes off the start. We talked about attacking the turn throughout the week and she brought it home. She swam it with a lot of guts and motivation inside herself. I think, deep down inside, that she wanted to prove something,” said Conklin.

In this case, wanting to prove something likely stretched back to one year ago. As a junior, Yuchnitz was disqualified from her state race in the 50 due to a false start.

“It was a huge disappointment,” recalled Conklin of the default. “As a coach it was one of the hardest moments that I’ve had to deal with. Having to talk to an athlete that just lost a huge opportunity to place.”

While Yuchnitz returned to Ithaca last weekend swimming the 100-yard freestyle as well, her focus remained locked on the race that had slipped through her fingers in 2017.

“I just remember telling her, ‘We have one more year, I know this isn’t how you wanted it to end, but next year is a new year,'” Conklin said.

In addition to her stellar finish at the state level, Yuchnitz also leaves behind a long legacy at Panama. She is currently the schools’ all-time leader in wins, and holds records in five events including the 50 freestyle (23.94), 100 free, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.

“She has been one-hundred percent a go-to girl,” said Conklin. “Anytime I knew we were going to need a big race and need her to come through, she always did that. I nicknamed her, ‘The Bullet’ a couple of years ago and that is how she swims, just like a bullet. I can remember many races of her anchoring the 400 relay and just chasing girls down. It’s a great honor to have been able to coach her and, hopefully, some of these younger swimmers will see her success and take aim at that.”

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