When Lizzy Frazier was 4 years old, she broke her leg jumping on a trampoline.
Then at age 6, Frazier fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm.
But the pain from those two injuries didn’t compare to what the Columbus East sophomore felt in the fall, when she developed a stress fracture in her left ankle and shin while running cross-country. She was in a walking boot for almost nine weeks.
At the moment, Frazier has recovered, and she’s one of the top swimmers on the Olympians squad that will compete in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet Saturday at Seymour.
“I’ve broken a few bones, but nothing stress related,” Frazier said. “It hurt a lot worse than anything I’ve had before.”
Frazier became injured just before before fall break and took three weeks off. She came back to run in the semistate, but aggravated the stress fracture and couldn’t run for six more weeks.
But even though she couldn’t run, Frazier was able to swim. She was in the pool two days after the cross-country season ended.
“She works hard all the time, even if she’s sick or has had an injury,” East girls swimming coach Jill Arnholt said. “She pushes herself to do her best all the time. She has an incredible work ethic.”
That work ethic was on display in the offseason, when Frazier came in before school two or three mornings a week to swim.
“Having all the extra training made me a lot more prepared going into the season,” Frazier said. “I’ve noticed a significant difference, and I don’t know if it’s because or the training or just because I’m older.”
The 100-yard backstroke is Frazier’s best event, and she usually swims on the Olympians’ 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. For her second individual event, she has swam the 200 individual medley and all the freestyle events from the 50 through the 500.
“She’s very versatile,” Arnholt said. “I can put her where I need her, and she’s going to do her best. She’s been right at her best times, so I’m looking forward to her continuing to get better.”
Frazier would like to lower her 100 backstroke time to below 1 minute, 10 seconds this season.
“I know that I still need to drop some time if I want to place well (at conference and sectional), but I’ve been working on my turns a lot, so hopefully I’ll be able to,” Frazier said.
Arnholt thinks she can achieve those goals.
“She stays positive,” Arnholt said. “She’s swimming really strong this year. She’s trying to perfect her strokes and her turns. She’s not happy until she’s doing her best.”
A straight-A student, Frazier also runs track in the spring. She played golf the fall of her freshman year, but switched to cross-country this year.
“I really liked (track) a lot,” Frazier said. “I liked the girls and liked the team, and I kind of fell in love with running.”
But now, she’s focused on swimming. Her best chance to qualify for state this season is likely in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays, where she teams with junior standout Cortney VanLiew and seniors Brooke Statler and Raegan Bradley.
“I definitely think that we could (qualify for state),” Frazier said. “We’d all have to go our best times, but if we work really well, I think we could have a shot at it.”
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What: Hoosier Hills Conference swimming and diving meet
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Seymour High School
Teams: Columbus East, Jennings County, Bedford North Lawrence, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, Madison, New Albany, Seymour
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