Scott headed south

She will bid for Paralympic world championshipsnext month in South Africa.

By Toby Carrig

Southeast Missourian

Susan Beth Scott ate her Thanksgiving dinner in a Chicago airport, between flights, away from family and home.

But Thursday marked the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for the 14-year-old Central freshman.

Check that.

Scott would like to make adventures like this part of her routine as an elite swimmer competing in international paralympic events.

Scott, who was born with a form of spina bifada, flew from Chicago to Sao Paolo, Brazil, last Thursday, After a couple of days of training there, she was scheduled to fly to South Africa to begin preparations for the International Paralympics Committee Swimming World Championships.

Scott will compete in four events beginning Saturday and concluding Dec. 6 at the world event in Durban, South Africa.

Scott said her trip also will include a safari after the competition, and she has brought along copies of her textbooks to keep up with schoolwork.

"I don't know if I'm going to handle this real well," Alicia Scott said Wednesday, the day before her daughter was to join up with the United States contingent, which includes 25 swimmers and eight coaches and trainers. "It's going to be hard for us to have her away for that long a period of time. I'm probably more nervous than she is. She's nervous but she's excited.

"I think she'll probably get homesick, but she's in good hands."

"I'm real excited," Susan Beth said following practice with the Gators swimming team. "But it is kind of scary."

Susan Beth Scott will be the youngest member of the U.S. team, although 17 of the athletes are under 21.

At least one of Scott's parents have traveled with her on previous trips for paralympic competition -- including the national championships meet in August in San Antonio, Texas. From that event, Scott helped solidify her place on the national team with a first-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke and second-place finishes in the 400 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 1,500 freestyle.

She ranks second in the world in the S10 classification (the least disabled swimmers) for the 400-meter freestyle, behind only fellow American Ashley Owens.

Scott's time of 4 minutes, 52.14 seconds that she posted in San Antonio was .99 of a second behind Owens' time, and Gators coach Steve Franklin has seen improvement in Scott since then.

"She's faster now," said Franklin, who is Scott's primary coach. "She has improved, and she's faster now than she was in the summer, when she was second in the world. Hopefully, she's fast enough to challenge for the No. 1 spot.

"Hopefully, we'll be on with our training schedule and we'll be looking at the new American record-holder when she comes back home.

"And if it's not this time, it will happen soon."

Scott, who has been swimming competitively since fourth grade but just began paralympic competition last year, hopes to shave 6 seconds off her time.

She also will be swimming in the 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley.

"I'm just hoping I break 4:46 in the 400," Scott said, "and maybe win it."

No maybes about it, Scott is hardly that timid about her goals when she's in the pool.

"She's very tenacious," Franklin said. "She's had a good growth spurt since last year and she has really concentrated on stroke mechanics and maximizing her potential strengths."

Scott's recent competitive nature surprises even her father, who coached Susan Beth when she played softball.

"She's very quiet and shy, but she is very competitive," Mike Scott said. "I think back to coach-pitch softball when I was coaching and we would have instructional time, and she'd be more interested in what the clovers look like. Up until three years ago, I never would have believed she would be as competitive as she is."