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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(article posted by Jeremy Rushing, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Jan. 22, 2013 - Success is something North Central College swimmer Loreli Patschke knows a lot about both in and out of the pool.  Being in the record books in the pool and on the fast track to pharmacy school out of it, Loreli is definitely proof that hard work pays off.  Being on the 200 yard medley relay team that broke the school record as only a sophomore, the future looks extremely bright for the Lake Park High School graduate.

Last season, Loreli capped off a fantastic year by finishing in the top 10 in seven events at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships.  She was on relay teams that finished fourth in the 200 yard freestyle relay (1:43.02) and the 400 yard medley relay (4:01.75).  The biology major's 200 yard medley relay team also broke the school record (1:49.56). 

Q: How did you first get involved with Swimming?
A: I first got involved with swimming after being involved with gymnastics for a number of years.  My mom felt it would be better for me to go into a more individualized sport like swimming.  Swimming's a sport where your time can't be taken away from you.  In gymnastics, if your toe is not pointed perfectly you get deducted.  In swimming, your time is your time, it can't be deducted.

Q: Last year, at the CCIW Championships, you were on the 200 yard medley relay team that broke the school record, what was that like for yourself and the team as a whole?
A: That was an awesome experience.  Everyone was so excited when we found out that we broke the record from North Central.  To me, that was a huge accomplishment because that was one of our goals for the year. 

Q: The team just recently went on a training trip to Puerto Rico, what was that experience like?
A: All of our training trips are once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but, for our Puerto Rico trip I feel like it was more of a time for us to get together as a team.  The training was also much different there and it definitely helped how we trained the rest of the year.

Q: To you, what is the toughest part about swimming?
A: To me, it's the training and the time it takes to put into swimming to actually be successful.

Q: Do you have any pre-meet or pre-race rituals?
Pre-meet my ritual is to eat pasta or steak and pasta together (laughs).  Pre-race I like to listen to “pump up” music that gets me motivated.

Q: What are your goals for this season?
A: I would like to place in the top three and go under 24.5 seconds for 50 freestyle, I would also love to be in the top eight and go under one minute flat for 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
 
Q: Are you involved in anything else on campus besides swimming?
A: Right now I'm lab assisting for anatomy and physiology.  There's also a swim team that comes into our pool to practice and I'm a coach for them.

Q: What is your favorite class you have taken so far at North Central?
A: It would definitely be anatomy & physiology with Dr. John Zenchak.  I got really into the lab part of it which allowed me to move forward into lab assisting.

Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: I plan on going to pharmacy school.  Hopefully after that I can make a career out of it.