During the summer, most 16-year-olds are sleeping until noon and then hanging out by the pool, but for Hunter Bayley, the pool is not used for lounging. Hunter has been competing in national swim meets the entire summer. In Indianapolis at Sr. Nationals, his 25th-place finish in the 200 backstroke qualified him for the Olympic Trials, and a fifth-place finish at Jr. Nationals placed him on USA’s Jr. National Team, where he will go on to compete in Australia.

These accomplishments do not come without hard work. Hunter has been training year round for the past six years and has now started practicing 10 times a week. He competes on the Fleet Swim Club in Cy-Fair, along with his high school team at Stratford. The Jr. National team will soon take more of his time, as he will be traveling to Colorado Springs to practice at the Olympic Training Center.

Although this would be overwhelming for most teenagers, Hunter embraces the high competition and uses that as a driving force.

“I have never been nervous before until the Jr. National Finals in the 200 backstroke this past year.”

Nerves do not seem to affect his performance, as he is nationally ranked and swims in front of Olympic gold medalists like Michael Phelps, who was only 19 years old when he won six gold and two bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Hunter is on the right path to compete in the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games and would like to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Aaron Peirsol, who won three gold medals at the age of 21 at the 2004 Olympics. He will continue to be a standout in the swimming world and a swimmer to keep your eye on.

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