In her high school swimming debut, freshman Maren Byrne is already a CCS and state champion in the 200-yard individual medley. Despite already ranking third in the nation among 15-year-old girls in the 200-meter individual medley, Maren’s career is just getting started. This summer, Maren will compete against over 1,000 athletes for the 52 open spots on Team USA, in what may be the largest swim meet ever — the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Maren started swimming competitively at 8 years old and joined Alto Swim Club in 2021, which is known for its competitive atmosphere. Feeling the pressure to keep up with the strenuous training of the 250-athlete team, Maren trains for about 23 hours a week, where she works to perfect her technique.

“It’s hard to put my finger on one thing I want to improve; there’s so many strokes I want to make perfect,” Maren said. “Fine-tuning the smaller details is a big focus of mine.”

Dual meets have been the highlight of Maren’s first high school swimming season, where the team enjoys cheering each other on in relays and making fun videos between races. However, as LAHS’ top female swimmer, Maren often feels pressured to do well.

“There is a lot of pressure to win, or beat this person and place in a certain race, and that can be hard to handle sometimes,” Maren said. “When I race, I try to think, ‘How bad do you want it? You gotta push through it and there will be a reward on the other side.”

“Maren is quiet on the pool deck, but when she gets into the water she is definitely one of the most explosive athletes on the team,” varsity swimming Head Coach Seth Tasman said. “And she has one of the hardest work ethics I have seen in all of my 11 seasons of coaching.”

One of her relay teammates, sophomore Ari Yurchenko, admires how Maren channels her nerves into high energy.

“During the meets, she’s really focused,” Ari said. “She seems like she effortlessly has good race times, but you can tell that she puts a lot of effort in.”

Alto and LAHS practices often conflict, a struggle for many LAHS swimmers, but Maren works to balance both.

“The coaches are really understanding and work with my schedule so I can compete with the high school team while having fun,” Maren said.

Maren is a strong individual and team contributor to LAHS, where she recently broke a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke and got sixth place at CCS. She also helped break another school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where the entire relay team qualified for States. Maren then won the 200 individual medley at States and became the state champion. Now, she’s working toward another dream — the Olympic Trials, held on June 15–23. After the Speedo Sectionals in Carlsbad in March, Maren and her coaches realized that she might have a shot at competing at the upcoming Trials.

“It’s kinda new to me, it wasn’t really a goal of mine until when I had a really amazing meet,” Maren said. “It became a real possibility for me.”

Her club coaches advised her not to put too much pressure on herself, and to just get out there at the end of May and see if she could qualify.

“It would be an honor to swim at Trials,” Maren said. “All the hours I’ve put into this, all the people who put time and effort into me and my swimming journey, I swim for them and for myself.”