TYLER, Texas — The Olympic Games have captured the attention of many Americans, but there is one East Texas swimmer who is garnering some attention as well.
"She just has that competitive, the eye of the tiger kind of thing," Tyler Rose Aquatics Development Coach Stan McDonald said.
Eleven-year-old Aubree Madison is a nationally ranked swimmer and just wrapped up an incredibly successful trip to the National AAU Junior Olympics in North Carolina. She participated in six individual events and despite competing in some groups as big as 118 swimmers, she came in first place in every single one despite not even swimming that long.
"About three years, I started swimming when I was seven," Madison said.
When you consider how hard her and her team work though, you can understand a little better how she’s made such strides so quickly.
"Our practices are six times a week Monday through Saturday. So sometimes I go five times, sometimes I go six times," Madison said.
Madison is wrapping up what’s been about one of the most dominant summer swim seasons a 10 going on 11-year-old could have, but for her, this is just the beginning of her swimming journey and she’s really dreaming big.
"When I get older I want to be an Olympic swimmer, and swim with all the fastest swimmers like Katie Ledecky and Lilly King and all them. I was inspired by them when I was younger by like watching the Olympics, and learning from them," Madison said.
McDonald has more than 30 years of experience coaching swimming, and he’s even mentored two Olympians in the past. He said the soon-to-be sixth grader at Tyler ISD's Hubbard Middle School just might have what it takes.
"She’s got that combination of natural talent, work ethic, and then that intangible, I call it the eye of the tiger. She’s got the eye of the tiger; she’s a racer. And that’s what it takes to get to that next level, and I expect her to go to the next level," McDonald said.
Another potential Olympian out of East Texas if nothing else, remember the name: Aubree Madison.
"Yeah she’s got the complete package. We’ll see in four to six years. Four to eight really," McDonald said.