North’s Wohlschlegel signs to swim for Campbellsville

HEBRON ESTATES - Swimming since she was 9-years old, North Bullitt senior Carrie Wohlschlegel got a nice little reward on Monday when she signed to swim for the next four years at Campbellsville University.

Mike Farner

Coaching Reversal - North Bullitt senior Carrie Wohlschlegel is flanked by her parents, Bill and Melinda Wohlschlegel, as she signs to swim at Campbellsville University starting this fall. Looking on are (left to right) North Bullitt assistant athletic di

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Wohlschlegel was part of the first swim program at North Bullitt when she and one other were part of the overall Bullitt County squad when she was a sophomore. The Bullitt County team, under head coach Laura Flischel, practices with members from all three Bullitt County high schools but they then break down and compete as members for their own school in meets.

Swimming started for Wohlschlegel when she joined the Bullitt County Dolphins’ summer program under head coach Melissa Cannon. By the age of 11, Wohlschlegel was swimming year-round. That expanded into swimming at the Downtown YMCA in Louisville and then joining USA programs in Elizabethtown and then Louisville (Cardinal Aquatics).

It was through some swimming friends that she got into contact with Campbellsville head coach Lindsay Hines. Wohlschlegel was already considering Campbellsville as a college destination when the opportunity to swim came into the picture.

“She is friends with a young lady on our team,” Hines reported. “So, I had some inner-squad recruiting going on.”

The chance to swim was just a nice bonus for Wohlschlegel.

“I visited the college in March and I really liked it,” the 18-year old daughter of Bill and Melinda Wohlschlegel said after signing all the paperwork on Monday. “It was just a plus that they had a swim team. It was a good fit.”

Wohlschlegel also looked into the programs at Transylvania and Centre Colleges, but those are NCAA Division III programs that offer no athletic assistance. Campbellsville, a NAIA Division I program, could offer a limited financial package.

“At Campbellsville I had some financial aide and I liked the school,” Wohlschlegel said.

At this point, Wohlschlegel has not decided on a major, but she will be minoring in music.

For four years, Wohlschlegel played the oboe in the band at North Bullitt.

At Campbellsville, Wohlschlegel will join a program that was only reinstated at the school two years ago. The school had a program in the 90s that included Cannon as a team member, but the team was disbanded in 2000. Hines is starting into her third year rebuilding the program.

At this point, Campbellsville has only a women’s swim program. The hope is to have a men’s team started by the fall of 2010.

Hines had nine team members last season and all those were freshmen and sophomore. Seven of the nine qualified for the NAIA national championships.

The Campbellsville coach is not exactly sure at this point where Wohlschlegel will fit into her program. Hines is thinking that she will be doing some distance events. The longest high school swimming events are 500-meters. In college, the distance events can go up to 1,650-meters.

Wohlschlegel is open to trying any of the events, but she doesn’t like the backstroke.

“I like freestyle and butterfly best,” the senior said. “I’ll swim any of the events except the backstroke. It’s just not for me.”

For Wohlschlegel, swimming is pretty much her only athletic outlet. She did run track for one season while at North Bullitt.