For Alex Murphy, getting ready for a swim meet is more than just training in the pool. There is also the mental side of it, and she has developed a way to sharpen the mental outlook of both herself and the Lawrence High girls’ swim team.
“Her trademark on the team is leading affirmations in the locker room before a meet,” coach Hillary Hargraves-Dix said. “It started out as something kind of silly. Now it’s like a routine, it’s just a sort of sweet, unique tradition she started before every home meet.”
It starts with a talk amongst the swimmers and coaches. The lights are then turned off, and Murphy will play a game of “repeat after me.” She pronounces “I am brave!” and the group responds with the same proclamation. That is followed by “I am beautiful,” then “I am strong,” and finally “I say something silly like “I’m gonna kick hard, swim fast and beat whoever we’re about to swim.”
And then it’s off to conquer the enemy, with positive energy running throughout the squad.
“It just gives me more confidence,” Murphy said. “If I repeat something out loud it feels more true, and if you think something so much and you believe something so much it will eventually come true. I really love doing the affirmations. I think it gives everyone else confidence. It’s like a big, together group thing and everyone believes it.”
Murphy’s belief has translated to the pool. Through Lawrence’s 5-2 start, the senior sprinter had one first and two seconds in the 100 free, four seconds in the 50 free, a first in backstroke, a first in the 200 free, two firsts and a second in the 200 free relay, two firsts and three seconds in the medley relay and a first and two seconds in the 400 free relay.
She’s not what one would consider a stud racer that stands way above the fray, but she is consistently dependable.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth from her throughout her whole high school career, and especially this season,” Hargraves-Dix said. “She’s always been a sprint freestyler, but the importance of her role has changed this year after people graduated. What started out as something she was good at, she now takes a lot of ownership in sprints and she’s my go-to in the 50 free and 100 free, or the anchor in any of the three relays. I can always rely on her there to close out and finish the race.”
Murphy did sprints as a freshman but was also a strong backstroker. As time went on she began easing the backstroke out of her repertoire in favor of doing short freestyle races. In general, she’s a girl in a hurry.
“I started calling myself a retired backstroker this year,” Murphy said. “I just don’t think I’m as good at it as I used to be. I think I’m much better at swimming sprints. I don’t like swimming distance because it just feels like such a long drag-on. I like sprinting because it’s quick and I don’t have to pace myself for it.”
She does, however, have to pace herself in life, as Murphy’s schedule is pretty much booked from sunrise until the lights go out. Along with playing three sports, Alex carries a 4.3 grade point average while serving as an LHS Peer Leader. She has already been accepted by Pittsburgh, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Delaware with plans on being a biology major.
“I love science, I always have,” she said. “I’m writing a research paper in English about women in stem fields. My freshman year I took biology like everyone else. I loved the aspect of DNA and genetics. It’s so cool. It’s fascinating.”
It’s also pretty heavy stuff that requires a lot of focus in the classroom. Somehow, Murphy manages to stay on top of it while also being a valuable athlete in field hockey, swimming and softball. It all comes from careful planning and getting into a rhythm once the school year starts.
“People tell me all the time I’m crazy for doing this,” she said. “But once I get in the swing of things for field hockey, it’s the same all year. Once I get good at it in the fall. I just do it all year long.”
Despite the crammed schedule, Alex gives whatever sport she is currently performing her full attention. Her desire to succeed is unsurpassed and Hargraves-Dix feels her other activities help in that area.
“She’s fiercely competitive and always has been,” the coach said. “She’s an all-around athlete, and I think that’s where she gets and maintains this competitive drive. She really works hard in practice every day. She pushes herself in practice, never gives up. That translates into meets, where she has a good work ethic and competitive drive.
“As a senior this year she’s stepped up in a leadership role. Even before she was voted as one of our captains, she kind of stepped up and started leading our stretches, and took on those more senior roles that we look for.”
Murphy began swimming competitively with the Ben Franklin club at age six. She joined just to hang out with her friends but enjoyed it to the point of sticking with it. Once morning practices were over the group would eat lunch at 10:30 a.m. and remain at the pool all day. Hargraves-Dix was her coach back then, which helped the transition to high school swimming easier.
After placing in a few races as a freshman, she increased her production each of the past two seasons and is enjoying her best campaign to date. Last year, she won a bet with boys swim coach Ryan Shive that she could break 30 seconds in the 50 free. After going 29.86 in a relay she won the bet and was allowed to shave Shive’s beard.
“I was nervous he was going to be mad that I made him look bad,” Murphy said with a laugh. “His beard was so long, it was just a part of him. But the next day all the teachers in school were saying I did a nice job.”
She continues to do a nice job in the pool despite not being a club swimmer.
“She can compete with club swimmers, she has that skill,” Hargraves-Dix said. “She’d probably be tops in the county if she did club. She has a pretty natural ability. She’s tall and lean; and stays active year-round. As a sprinter she’s worked to get a really strong kick and has done a lot of work the past few years.”
Murphy’s goals this year are to break 30 seconds in the 50 from a flat start, and to qualify for the Mercer County meet finals in the 50 after being there as an alternate. She is being aided this year by “tempo trainers”, which are beeping devices in the swimmers’ caps that regulate the tempo of strokes at a high cadence. It is forcing Alex to move her arms even faster.
Along with all that, she has her other sports chipping in to help out her aquatics.
“She has a lot of good stamina in terms of her cardio from running in field hockey,” Hargraves-Dix said. “From softball she’s developed a strong upper body, strong arms. That definitely helps in swimming. And swimming helps her keep in shape for those sports too. It’s like a two-way street.”
Murphy likes traveling in every direction on that street.
“They’re all so different,” she said. “Field hockey is such a cardio active sport, I’ve played softball my whole life, swimming works out everything. I love each of them so much. They each give me something that the other doesn’t.”
Fortunately for those teams, Murphy gives just as much back.
