"I started out and it took me a while to actually get my times good enough for state," she said. "At the beginning, I was mostly at the end of the list at meets."

That started to change when Stapley began her freshman year.

"I was more motivated when I was a freshman to get faster," she said. "There was more motivation to actually do it because it is for the high school and you are actually working toward something more big."

Kearns coach Chris Horne has watched Stapley since she first began swimming.

"Lauren started off as a below-average swimmer; as a new swimmer she had very little talent as an 11-year-old," Horne said. "Now she is one of the top swimmers in the state. She has been a top practice attender since she started and she has just really improved so much over the last six years."

Stapley's practice has paid off, making her one of the best freestyle swimmers in the state. She placed fourth in last year's state competition in the 500 freestyle.

In fact, she attends one more practice each day than the rest of the swimmers on the high school team.

"I just swim a lot," she said. "Every day, after the high school practice, I stay for an age-group practice. When I was a junior I just decided to do it, especially because I am a distance swimmer, so I need more yards at swimming."

The extra practice has helped build up her endurance, as well as give her more practice times so she can work harder.

Her biggest challenge in taking extra time to practice is to make sure she has enough study time to maintain her 3.9 grade-point average.

"I think my education is more important than swimming, even though I love swimming, a lot," she said. "I try to leave myself about two hours of homework time each day."

She also tries to find time to spend with friends, many of whom are on the swim team, watch movies, go camping and enjoy other outdoor activities.

Right now, the Kearns team is in the middle of "tear downs," a training period when the swimmers are working their hardest to get stronger and faster. Then they will "taper" and rest their muscles and bodies. When they taper, swimmers generally gain more energy and are able to drop their swim times.

"I haven't gotten my best time yet this year, but I have gotten close to it," Stapley said. "I plan to try to work even harder for the rest of tear downs, and when we taper, I want to make sure I have a really good taper and am really rested for the state meet."

By doing that, she hopes to perform well at state.

"This year I hope to be on the podium again," she said. "In the top six in the 500, and I'm also hoping to move up in the 200-free to top six."

Although Stapley doesn't have plans to swim on the collegiate level, she said," I'm kind of sad that I will be done swimming competitively, but I think I will keep swimming to stay in shape. I just love it."