Staying afloat

Green Valley grad stays competitive despite life changes

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A lot has changed for Green Valley High School graduate Beatrice Szilard in the last four years.

Four years ago, Szilard was a single girl attending high school in Las Vegas with aspirations of making the Olympics in the backstroke. Now, ready to begin her junior year at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., next month, the 19-year-old is a newlywed and has put her Olympic dreams on the back burner for now.

As a swimmer for Green Valley, Szilard was talented enough -- she was undefeated at every level but state -- to earn a four-year scholarship to swim for the Lady Monarchs but never pushed herself to win a state championship in the backstroke.

"I was really bad when it came to state because I never took it seriously," Szilard said. "It sounds really stupid, but whenever it came down to high school swimming, I just kind of did it for fun. I never trained with the team, I just went to the dual meets. And I just didn't care a whole lot and state was just a hassle to me."

But Szilard began school at Old Dominion with high expectations and didn't disappoint, setting school records in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke in her first two years in the pool. Szilard said residing in Norfolk was different from being in Las Vegas, but she soon fit in.

"It was a big culture shock," Szilard said. " But the athletes really liked me because I was one of the fastest female swimmers on the team."

After shining in her freshman year and winning the 200-meter backstroke in the Colonial Athletic Association Championships with a time of 2:01.59, Szilard slowed during her sophomore year due to injuries, focus and a change in team chemistry.

"I was a lot happier with my performance my freshman year than I was as a sophomore," she said. "I was more psyched I think because it was my freshman year and I thought I had to really swim fast because I was on a four-year scholarship. I also think I wasn't as excited as I was because we didn't have as many good swimmers as we did my freshman year."

Szilard won the 200 meters in the conference meet again this spring, but lost a second (2:02.59) off her freshman time due to the various distractions.

After being coached by Joe Sill with the Gators and Nina Reitz of Team Rebel Aquatics in Las Vegas, Szilard is now being guided by the Lady Monarchs' Carol Withus and Jackie Yogst.

"They've helped me a lot. They're really nice and sympathetic coaches," Szilard said. "But it's hard for them because there's like 45 swimmers on our team and it's hard for them to necessarily focus on one person."

But undivided attention was provided at home, where Szilard said her most effective lifelong coach resided.

"My dad is the one who brought me up and taught me how to swim," Szilard said. "And he's the one who has helped me get to where I am the most. My dad was able to give me that one-on-one attention that other coaches couldn't always do. I think I'm still feeding off what my dad did for me in the past before I went to college."

Szilard's father is Zoltan Szilard, 74-year-old retiree who competed for his native Hungary in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in water polo and swimming.

After some turbulent times, Beatrice and her father are now each other's biggest supporters.

"My dad and I were going through sort of a rough period when my parents were getting divorced when I was like a freshman or sophomore in high school," Szilard said. "And we had a year or so where we basically didn't talk a lot. And then one day I realized that my dad was getting older, and he really put his heart into making me who I am as a swimmer ... He is getting older and I am going to college soon and I thought I have to be friends with him and love him no matter what because God knows, anything could happen and he might not be here tomorrow."

Besides bringing home tales this summer of her sophomore year at ODU, Szilard also surprised her parents with the news that she had gotten married to Jeff Umlaus, 24, a 2004 graduate of ODU.

So after heading to college with dreams of possibly being an Olympic swimmer, Szilard is starting to think about career plans outside of athletics.

"I'm trying to do business right now but I want to eventually go with biology and I'd really like to be an optometrist," she said.

And although she has other things she's focusing on, Szilard, who is still a dual citizen of the United States and Hungary, hasn't totally abandoned the idea of participating in the same games as her father.

"I don't really have aspirations to make the Olympics," Szilard said. "But if I happen to swim fast enough to make the Olympic team, then why not? Nowadays, I'd say someone would have to swim a 1:56 (to make the 200-meter backstroke in the 2008 Olympics). But that's not my main focus in life right now."