RAYS coach eager to see Vincent make splash with Olympic-size talent

ELKINS -- After watching another stellar performance in the swimming pool by Cadence Vincent, Randolph Area YMCA Swim (RAYS) team coach John Schmidt says the sky is the limit for his squad's prize competitor.

"I always joke with her and tell her that she is my unicorn," Schmidt said of Vincent. "I may never have anyone like her ever again, and I'm excited about the future with this kid. What is really cool is that she is nicer than she is fast in a pool. She is just a lovely young lady who is genuinely nice."

Before recently heading off to the University of Alabama to be a part of the Crimson Tide swim team, Vincent competed for the RAYS in a regional meet hosted by Club Mountaineer at the WVU Aquatics Center in late July.

Teams from Connecticut, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states in the U.S. were represented at the competition.

"A lot of the teams at the regional meet had college swimmers on them," Schmidt said. "Cadence was swimming against kids from all over the country and had never raced in a 50-meter pool before. All of the racing she had done for us and in high school was in a short-course pool, while this competition was in a long-course one, which is Olympic-size."

At the end of the competition, Vincent had earned a trio of top three finishes, including a victory in the 50-meter freestyle. She also placed third in both the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke.

"Her times in the 100 free, 100 back, and 50 free are so close to qualifying for the Olympic trials," said Schmidt. "My sense as a coach is that she is going to go off to Alabama and she is going to get a little bigger and a little stronger.

"She's going to get to race in a long course pool a few more times and when she does, she will attain those Olympic trial cut times. She is so close, it's definitely doable, I would bet money on it."

Schmidt said Vincent's victory in the 50 free is something that has never been done before by one of his swimmers. Her times at that event also qualified her for the U.S. Open to be held later this fall.

Vincent graduated from Buckhannon-Upshur this past spring and finished her swimming career at the school with nine individual state titles. She owns state records in both the 50- and 100-meter freestyles.

Vincent has been a member of the RAYS the past eight years and Schmidt feels that it's only a matter of time before she makes a splash onto the big stage – the Olympics.

"She has a really good shot, better than a lot of people," Schmidt said. "She is going to be a freshman at Alabama this year and if she doesn't qualify in 2024, I think she has a real good shot of qualifying in 2028.

"She is going to be close to making it in 2024, provided she stays healthy. She has one of the best coaches in the county in Margo Geer at Alabama, and she hasn't really hit her peak yet.

"She is on a continuous upward trend with her speeds, and when you take in what they're going to help her with in college when it comes to managing her lifting, training and nutrition, she's only going to get better and better."

Even though the Rays are based out of the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA, team members often bounce around to different pools in the area to work with different coaches.

"We have a team of coaches at different facilities that all collaborate," Schmidt said. "Sometimes we have kids that will swim in Buckhannon for three days and Elkins two days. Each coach has our own strengths, so we send them where they need to go in order to get particular work in. It's a real cool mix of talented coaches and talented swimmers."

Schmidt said the learn-to-swim team works at the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA, while the more advanced swimmers sometimes train in longer pools at Davis & Elkins College and West Virginia Wesleyan College.

"Our swimmers compete with their high schools and the RAYS simultaneously," he said. "We are really a year-round team, but we don't have formal practices in the spring and summer.

"We encourage our swimmers to swim with their summer league teams, like the Elkins Otters and the Buckhannon Splashers. The summer league teams are a little more fun and laid back for the kids, where we work them pretty hard in the fall and winter, and taper them through the big meets in the spring.

"When the season is over we want them to take a little bit of a break, swim summer league, and then come back refreshed and ready to work hard in the fall," he said.

Other coaches for the RAYS include Eric Anger, Collin Meadow and Jared Varner. A new season for the team is set to begin next month. For information on how to join the squad, contact the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA at 304-636-4515.