Junior captain Tamera Stouffer’s early-season struggles were due to a ventricular septal defect. But not even a hole in her heart has kept her out of the pool.
International Falls has swam and dove its way through the 2009 season with a prime example in front of them as to why nothing should be taken for granted at any age.
Tamera Stouffer, a junior captain, opened the season shocked by her poor performances. She was coming off a sophomore year highlighted by a steady rise in the 100-yard butterfly — she finished the season with the 19th-best time in school history — yet she opened 2009 “swimming times I was swimming in sixth grade,” she said.
She routinely struggled to catch her breath and would get dizzy at practice from being so tired. She even felt something wrong at school, out of the pool.
“I would walk up the stairs at school and I would just be beat,” she said.
Fortunately she needed a physical before the season, and it’s at that physical where Dr. Gary Potter, Falls High School’s team trainer, detected a heart murmur. Potter couldn’t pass Stouffer in the physical, so he referred her to a cardiologist in Duluth.
On Sept. 17, Dr. Mark C. Neustel diagnosed Stouffer with a ventricular septar defect, commonly known as a “hole in the heart.”
Stouffer could continue to swim, and Neustel even recommended swimming among other exercises, but it wouldn’t be easy building up stamina.
That was an understatement.
“She could’ve chose to quit, but she decided to come out and support the team no matter what her times were,” Broncos girls swimming and diving coach Jill Herzig said.
There are still risks involved and eventually Stouffer will need surgery when she stops growing, she said, but right now the focus is on the Section 7A meet, which begins today at 5 p.m. in Grand Rapids.
“This is her life,” said Tamera’s mom, Lisa Stouffer, who isn’t surprised her youngest child (out of five) chose to continue to swim. “Unless she got brought in there in a wheelchair, she’ll jump in that pool. She’s a fitness freak.”
Lisa is heavily torn between worrying about the risks and the fact exercise, particularly swimming, is good for Tamera’s conditions (she was previously diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease in her neck, as well). But she’s comforted the coaches are watching her daughter “like a hawk,” and aren’t pushing her to unhealthy levels.
“She might not be able to do as good as the other (swimmers), but she needs to keep exercising,” Lisa said.
If anyone’s pushing the envelope, it’s Tamera, a self-proclaimed sports lover. She doesn’t want sympathy, she isn’t looking for preferential treatment and she especially wants everyone to know she “isn’t dying.”
“I’m still there doing all the practices just like everybody else,” she added.
And her times continue to drop.
She’s still roughly three seconds off her career-best time in the 100 butterfly — 1 minute, 13.33 seconds in 2008 compared to 1:16.18 this season — but she’s the 14th seed in today’s preliminaries. It would be a massive accomplishment to just be one of the top 16 to advance to Saturday’s action, all things considered.
“I am most impressed with she’s continued to work hard even though she’s not where she was last year,” coach Herzig said.
Stouffer will also participate in 200 medley relay, which is the fifth seed.
“Because she doesn’t draw attention to it, everybody’s supportive and they are ecstatic when she drops time,” Herzig added.
The best chance the Broncos have at advancing to state is in the 200 freestyle relay, which is seeded third. The top 16 finishers today advance to Saturday’s finals, but only the top eight are eligible to qualify for state. The consolation finals are reserved for swimmers who finish 9-16 today. Four divers will qualify for state.
“Because of top two, it’s difficult,” coach Herzig said about qualifying for state, especially with Hibbing and Grand Rapids dominating the section. “But you never know. We’ll go for our best times and see what happens.”
Individually, Maggie West owns the best seed time for the Broncos, coming in with the fifth-best time in the 50 freestyle. Morgan Bruess sits in sixth in the 100 backstroke and West is seventh in the 100 freestyle. Paige Herzig in the 100 breaststroke and Rachel Adams in the 50 freestyle are both seeded ninth, while Ashley Hasbargen in the 100 breaststroke and Monica Hasbargen in the 200 individual medley are seeded 10th.
The expectations are to get each relay into the top eight and into the finals and to have each individual finish in the top 16.
That said, the fact Stouffer is still participating is an accomplishment in itself.
“She loves swimming,” fellow captain and friend Paige Herzig said. “She has a lot more dedication than most people. She wasn’t willing to give up her season to watch us.”
And the Broncos aren’t taking anything for granted.
