Jenna Gregoire’s mind is a competitive, complex and charming world.
The Rampart senior is the two-time Class 5A defending champion and current record holder in the 100-yard freestyle, holds a 4.8 grade-point average and will be co-valedictorian along with her best friend from the first grade, one of the few races she is OK about not winning.
After turning over just about every leaf in the Ivy League, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound torpedo will swim at Harvard this fall.
“Unless I get arrested,” Gregoire deadpanned. “They might revoke my admissions. But I’m not planning on that.”
Nor does she intend to be an easy out Saturday in the 5A swimming and diving championships at Edora Pool and Ice Center in Fort Collins, where she set the water on fire last year in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.30 seconds. And she did it in a suit that wasn’t banned last August by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Although the 50 freestyle is another of Gregoire’s top events, Rampart coach Pat Burch gave her the option of swimming a different event so she could avoid Regis freshman phenom Missy Franklin, who has already clocked a time nearly one second faster than Gregoire.
“She wants to go head-to-head,” said Burch, who calls Gregoire “brilliant.”
Gregoire embraces the challenge. Everything she does has stakes, and her reflective moments are spent analyzing pieces of the competition, from her start to her turns to her breathing to her mechanics.
Her club coach, Mike Stromberg, has to put fast swimmers in lanes next to Gregoire during practice because she always wants someone pushing her. She gets a little agitated if teammates aren’t trying their hardest.
“I’ve had that on the guys side, but not on the girls side,” Stromberg said.
When it comes to losing, Burch saw Gregoire in Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who walked straight off the field Sunday after losing the Super Bowl.
“She’s not a drama queen,” Burch said. “She wants to be left alone because she’s trying regroup in her mind what she needs to do.”
That mind wants to study economics and French at Harvard. Gregoire loves snowboarding. She’s the president of the DECA club at Rampart and enjoys the people skills, public speaking and fast thinking its business and marketing competitions have given her.
“It combines the academic side with the competitive aspect,” Gregoire said. “Obviously, as an athlete, that’s what I live for. That’s what I enjoy.”
She does have her limits. Board games and card games are like kryptonite to her. Her mother gave her the genes of a standout basketball player, but Gregoire knows her mind wouldn’t work well on the court. Consider the buoys in the pool both for her safety and those around her.
“I think I would end up socking someone if they tried to foul me,” she said. “I think I would just want to tackle people.”
No matter what happens Saturday, Gregoire will give it everything she has. Victory won’t inflate her mind, nor will defeat cripple it. She’ll process it all, smile at some point, and move on to the next challenge, the next competition.
“She steps up to the plate and just goes to the wall,” Stromberg said. “And that’s racing.”
By the numbers
• 51.30: Class 5A state record in 100-yard freestyle, set in 2009 by Rampart’s Jenna Gregoire
• 4.8: Gregoire’s weighted grade-point average
• Two titles in 100 freestyle
• No. 2-seeded time in the state 50 and 100 freestyles
State meets
CLASS 5A GIRLS
Where: Edora Pool, Fort Collins
When: Prelims 4 p.m. Friday, finals 2 p.m. Saturday
CLASS 4A GIRLS
Where: Mountain View High School, Loveland
When: Prelims 4 p.m. Friday, finals 3:30 p.m. Saturday
