Student-Athlete of the Week: Abbie Shaw

Niwot sophomore Abbie Shaw wasn’t going to let a little thing like pneumonia stand between her and the podium at the Class 4A State Swim Championships this year. Diagnosed with the “walking” iteration of the illness in January, Shaw stuck to a rigorous training schedule during her recovery, determined to top her eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke at State a year ago.

“We knew she could sit pretty well in terms of a top-four finish, but you have to be on your ‘A’ game, and going into going into State, we weren’t so sure about her health,” Niwot head coach Sarah Stamp said. “We pushed the yardage at her at club practice, at my practice. We didn’t pull down at all for conference. We were gambling, not knowing, is it enough?”

Luckily for the Cougars, that strategy paid off. Shaw took nearly half a second off her preliminary time to claim second overall in the backstroke final, and helped lead her team to its first top-five finish at the State in at least 10 years.

“I went into the season wanting to win,” Shaw said. “That was my goal the whole season. [The pneumonia] took a lot out of me, and it took a long time to recover. I was really happy I could rebound and swim well at State.”

For her second-place finish, Shaw was named Class 4A Second Team All State for 2017-18 girls swim season, the only sophomore honored for an individual event.

“I was shocked more than anything,” Shaw said of her selection for the post-season honor. “It was really cool, and I was super excited.”

Shaw has been a key factor in Niwot swimming’s return to the Class 4A elite. A competitive swimmer for more than a decade, Shaw burst onto the high school scene last season with highly competitive times in the backstroke and 100 freestyle. In addition to her top-10 swim in the backstroke in 2017, she also took 13th in the 100 freestyle, and helped lead Niwot to ninth place at State, up from a disappointing 25th place in 2016. This year, the talented Shaw added another weapon to her arsenal: the 200 freestyle. Though new to the event, she finished sixth overall at State, and looks forward to honing her technique in the complicated race.

“I just started swimming the two-free this year, and it’s really improved,” Shaw said. “So much so that I could swim it at State, and I was really pleased with the results.”

Her coach agreed.

“We added the 200 and she blossomed at that in December,” Stamp said. “She keeps building on it, and learns more how to swim the race, because it’s a very strategic race to swim and compete in.”

Like fellow sophomore and teammate Payten Irwin, Shaw has her eye on competing at the national level. Later this spring, she is schedule to compete in a USA Swimming Sectional race, and hopefully on to even bigger venues from there.

During the odd hours Shaw isn’t in the pool or lifting weights, she is probably either at school or doing homework. Between school and club practices and her pre-IB classes, the 10th-grader has very little time for a social life. A science and math enthusiast, she plans to study biology in college in preparation for a medical career, and also hopes to continue her competitive swimming career..

“I go to school, I go to swimming, and then I study,” Shaw said. “I’m really close with the people on my club team and on my school team, so that’s nice.”