Athlete of the Week: Tierney Lenahan, New Trier swimming

Tierney Lenahan is a rising senior for the Trevians who is committed to Duke University. She swims in backstroke and freestyle races and recently competed at the Olympic Trials. As a sophomore, she won state championships in the 100-yard backstroke and as part of the Trevians 200 medley relay.

1. Do you have any preswim or premeet rituals?

I have a pair of lucky earrings I always wear. I have lost them like four times and replaced them, so they aren’t always the same ones. I always have mangoes before I swim that people always end up eating, so it’s like a team thing. It’s something sweet beforehand with a little boost of energy that’s easy to go down.

2. Why is Duke a good fit for you?

I was really looking for great academics, and something that excited me about Duke is they always celebrate being amazing athletes as well as students. … And the food was amazing (when I visited), and I love food.

3. What do you enjoy most about swimming?

It’s a little bit of a cheesy answer, but I really love all the people I’ve met through swimming. I used to live in Washington and now in Chicago; I’ve met so many good people from all over country and met my best friends. Thats probably my favorite part of it.

4. What are your goals as a swimmer?

At Duke, I hope to make it to NCAAs (national championships) at least once, and, a bit in the future but, qualify for trials in 2028. For New Trier, I hope we can win back the state championship this year.

5. What was it like swimming in the Olympic Trials?

It was so fun. It was really crazy to see swimmers you had up watching on TV and swimming next to them in the warmup pool and seeing world records being broken and walking next to those swimmers on deck.

6. Who is your favorite swimmer?

I’d probably have to say Summer McIntosh (17, Canada, world champion 400 individual medley). She is a great role model and someone I look up to, and she is my age. I have seen a couple interviews and she seems really cool and collected.

7. What is your favorite thing to do outside of the pool?

Besides swimming and all the work that goes into it, I don’t have a ton of extra time, but when I do, I like spending it with friends, watching movies. I like thrillers the best.

8. If you’re in Walgreens, with a couple bucks, what are you buying?

I’d probably have to say a Diet Coke and some Haribo gummy bears. Or a Cherry Coke, but it can be hard to find.

9. What is something people don’t know about you?

I am my elementary school’s undefeated hula hoop champion. There were certain tricks you had to do … and I was the last one standing.

10. What is your top personal sports highlight so far?

Definitely from high school season my favorite moment was when I was a sophomore in the 400 free relay. It was the very last event (of the state finals) and we had calculated what we need to beat to get a state championship. We were halfway through the relay and looking good and I was anchoring. I remember we got the place (second) we needed to and everybody was so excited and came up to hug us, and we won state after that and it was a really fun moment for the team.

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