Though her family has a pool at its house, Lisa Bratton doesn't hop in as much as she once did.
"I find I've been using it less and less because I'm in (another) pool training so much," she said. "I just want to be dry."
When Bratton does get in the water, however, she leaves the competition in her wake.
The Delta High School sophomore, who competes for Richland, has qualified for five individual state events, as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay. She's one of the favorites for today's Tri-City Championships at noon at Serier Pool in Kennewick, where she will swim the 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle and two relays.
Last weekend at the Mukilteo Invitational in Federal Way, Bratton notched her third school record and second this season, winning the 200 individual medley in a meet-record 2 minutes, 5.87 seconds.
And next June, she will compete in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.
What's even more mind-blowing about her rsum is that Bratton is only 15 years old.
"I still get chills thinking about it -- 'Wow, she's going to the Olympic Trials,' " said her father, Wes, a former Texas Tech swimmer who watched his daughter qualify for the Trials at the U.S. Junior National Championships in August in Palo Alto, Calif.
"It's a little scary knowing the competition has so much experience," Lisa Bratton said. "But it's cool knowing I've accomplished so much at such a young age."
Bratton began swimming with the Tri-City Channel Cats at age 8, but "I had a really long learning curve," she said. "I didn't move up level-wise till I was 12. As I got older, I started to see what I could do with it."
Just seven years after getting involved with competitive swimming, Bratton ranks first in the state in the 200 IM -- with the time she clocked at the Mukilteo Invitational -- and the 100 backstroke (59.04 seconds).
At last year's state championships, Bratton competed in the 200-yard IM and 500 freestyle, as well as the 200 medley and 400 free relays. She placed ninth in both individual events.
"Even though a lot of the kids are used to swimming in big meets, state is still one of the biggest, most intimidating meets because they usually don't swim in front of that many people," Richland/Hanford coach Kathy Piper said.
There were no jitters for Bratton at the Mukilteo Invitational, held at the same venue as the state championships. She powered to four top-five finishes at the King County Aquatic Center -- first in the 200 IM, second in the 500 free, third in the 200 medley relay and fourth in the 200 free relay.
"It felt really good," Bratton said. "My stroke was nice and smooth. It was just a lot of fun. It's a different type of meet, different types of swimmers. It wasn't like a high school meet, where it's one team against one team. It was everyone. It was like a club meet."
The Olympic Trials -- the biggest meet of Bratton's career thus far -- are just eight months away, but she isn't setting her sights on the 2012 London Games. Instead, she's going to the Olympic Trials for the experience of competing in bigger meets.
"After that," she said, "I'll see where it takes me."
w Katie Dorsey: 582-1526; kdorsey@tricityherald.com
