Jessica named Girls Swimmer of the Year

For as long as she can remember, Jessica has been swimming in the fast-lane. The New Bern High School senior competes all year round, hoping to be one of the top swimmers in the state.

In February, represented New Bern in the North Carolina State Swimming Championships in Chapel Hill, where she placed 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke. Brinkley also competed in the state meet her sophomore season.

With her accomplishments this season, Brinkley has been named the 2007-2008 Sun Journal Girls Swimmer of the Year.

She was also named the Coastal 8 Conference Girls Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive season.

To prepare her for the future, Brinkley is currently participating on the Twin Rivers YMCA team. And, at the end of July, she will compete for the YMCA team in the national meet in Maryland.

"This will be my first national meet, so I don't really know what to expect," Brinkley said. I am nervous even though I have never been there. I just want my time to hang in there with the rest of the competition. I want to hang in there with the other top girls in the nation and just improve on my times."

She will compete in her best event, the breaststroke. Her best time in the 100 breaststroke is 1:09.47 for the YMCA team.

Brinkley also owns the New Bern school record in the event.

"It is one of the hardest strokes, but I enjoy it because I have more leg power than upper-body power," she said.

Her favorite event is the 50 freestyle, where she can swim the event in 25.94. She also competes in the 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley, as well as several relays.

During the high school season, New Bern won the Coastal 8 Conference regular season title with an undefeated record, but the Bears were edged out by J.H. Rose in the conference championship meet on Jan. 23.

In that meet, Brinkley placed first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:11.45, while placing second in the 50 and fifth in the 200 freestyle.

"This season was the best of my four years," Brinkley said. "I've worked harder and gave it my best."

As a senior, Brinkley said one of her goals was to build a stronger team bond. During the conference meet, many of Brinkley's teammates were waiting by the starting blocks cheering her on.

"I get a lot of motivation from my team, especially my relay (teammates)," she said following the Coastal 8 Conference meet. "If I have fun, and I'm enjoying what I'm doing, I don't think about it. I just go out there and do it."

Brinkley will graduate from New Bern in June, but is still undecided about her future plans.

"That's the million dollar question," she said.

Brinkley wants to swim in college, but has yet to make a decision. Among her choices, Brinkley is considering swimming for East Carolina or Gardner-Webb.

But right now, Brinkley is just weighing her options.

written by Adam Thompson of New Bern Sun Journal