After the typical grueling three-hour practice followed by a challenging high school swim meet, Alyce Lehman looks to her biggest fans to help her get through the fatigue.
“The really big supporters in my journey have been all my coaches from high school and from [Jersey] Wahoos, my parents and God,” Lehman said. “I believe that He’s really helped me through this journey and keeps me going every single day.”
Lehman’s motor seems to never stop, as she’s constantly knifing through the water for both her club team – Jersey Wahoos – and her high school squad at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken.
The hard work and sacrifice have been paying off. Lehman has earned recognition as one of the top swimmers in the butterfly stroke among all swimmers in her age group across the country. Lehman, a sophomore, was invited to train with the National Select Girls Team at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in October. She earned that invitation by scoring one of the top three times in the country for girls ages 14-16 in the 100 butterfly event. She was also named a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American for having a Junior National Qualifying time in addition to a 3.5 grade point average.
In addition to her support staff, there’s another important piece of the puzzle that keeps Lehman going each day — her favorite, pasta and chicken parmesan.
“My mom makes really good food,” Lehman said with a smile. “My dad, too. They both have a lot of really good nutritional information, so they keep me well-fed and give me lots of good energy for the whole day. I’m really appreciative of how much they really care for me and make a lot of sacrifices.”
The rest is all Lehman. She excels in all her honors classes at Bishop Eustace while pulling the heavy workload in the pool. Both are top priorities.
“School and swim are really important to me,” Lehman said. “Swim has really taught me how to manage my time. When I get home, I get right to my homework because I want to keep my grades up.”
She’s been just as perfect in the pool. Lehman’s best time of 56.92 in the 100 butterfly is close to high school All-American consideration. More impressively, through Feb. 1, she’s only swam the event twice this season. It’s mostly due to being a team player and helping Bishop Eustace score more team points.
“She doesn’t get to swim the butterfly often, to her chagrin,” Crusaders coach Stacey Hengst said with a laugh. “She likes to be in the fly, but she helps out in other events a lot. I don’t have a lot of kids that can swim the [individual medley], so she helps us out there.”
No matter what she swims, Lehman usually wins by a significant margin. Aside from the butterfly, Lehman has posted state qualifying times in the 200 freestyle (1:57.21), the 200 individual medley (2:07.33) and the 500 freestyle (5:09.88).
Plus, the high school season is just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to her trip to Colorado, Lehman has also competed in California, Ohio and Tennessee in the past year against the elite swimmers of her age group. It’s actually led to a few friendships and group chats. She now has friends in Florida, Tennessee, Washington and Hawaii.
“The group of girls that I met were so nice, and we text all the time and keep each other motivated,” Lehman said. “Even though we all live in different parts of the country, we see each other at the big meets. It’s really fun having a network of friends like that.”
She also has started another tight swimming circle, locally, within her family. Lehman was the first of her family to swim competitively, but her sister Charlotte, a sixth-grader at Christ the King Regional School in Haddonfield, is also making waves in the sport. They also have a few cousins that are warming up in the pool.
“I kind of started the tradition and keep passing it on,” Lehman said.
Even though she’s just a sophomore, Lehman has become a steady shoulder for Bishop Eustace’s team to lean on.
“She’s a lovely girl and one of the sweetest people you will ever meet,” Hengst said. “She’s a great leader on the team. She’s always encouraging everyone else, but she’s also very modest. She’s a wonderful teammate.”
Lehman said she especially loves the high school season because of the team’s camaraderie. But no matter where she swims, she always carries a smile.
“I always just liked swimming,” Lehman said. “I like how I feel in the water, especially swimming the butterfly. I feel so powerful and strong. It’s a really fun sport with a great community.”
She even loves the three-hour practices with her club team followed by a tough high school meet.
“I definitely work really hard at my practices,” Lehman said. “At Wahoos, we train really hard. And I think, most importantly, I like to keep a positive mindset to get through a lot of the hard days. Today was a really hard day, but I pushed through, and my teammates really helped.”
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