Four county preps headed for U.S. Olympic swim trials

A quartet of county swimming stars who attended high school just seven miles apart are headed for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.

The teens are leaving Saturday and the swimming will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at the Quest Center.

"I've been coaching for 40 years and I've had a lot of girls go to trials, but only one boy (Steven Messner, 2000)," said Redlands Swim Club Coach Chuck Riggs.

The swimmers are Austin Brown (200-meter butterfly), Tyler Harp (100-meter freestyle) and Joey Hale (50 free) - all of Redlands High School - and Karl Krug (50 free) of Yucaipa High School.

The swim club had a going-away ice cream social on the pool deck today at Redlands High School, Riggs said.

Krug helped Yucaipa to the CIF-SS title this past spring and Redlands finished second. He will attend Auburn University in the fall, as will Hale. Harp will attend the University of Redlands on an academic scholarship and Brown will be a senior at Redlands High School.

Riggs said the boys are a longshot in Omaha, but that they will benefit by it.

"They're going for the experience," he said. "Four years from now, they'll have a chance. They're very talented."