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Flickinger fans York County's Olympic flame (column)


Spring Grove native finishes seventh overall in 200 butterfly final

Although I've watched the Olympics for more decades than I care to admit, the 2016 Summer Games have provided some storylines that have surprised even me.

My first memory of the Games dates to the summer of 1972, when I was a kid watching Mark Spitz win seven gold medals in Munich before tragedy set in. I was old enough to understand the special athletic success, but too young to fully grasp the political situation of Israeli athletes being taken hostage and killed.

Four years later, I recall Bruce Jenner walking around the track in Montreal with an American flag after winning the decathlon.

Then in the winter of 1980, a group of college kids did the impossible, beating the unbeatable Soviet Union in ice hockey. A moment of pride for a struggling nation, the "Miracle on Ice" resonates with me still today.

It has remained my favorite Olympic moment, until this week.

While the Miracle will never be replaced in my mind, several athletes born and raised here in central Pennsylvania stole my heart and have me cheering in front of my TV.

It's just different this time. The other Games involved almost mystical people, ones I didn’t know personally.

But when I watched Spring Grove’s Hali Flickinger swim her way to the 200-meter butterfly semifinal, and then finish seventh overall in Wednesday's final (in 2 minutes, 7.71 seconds), I couldn’t contain my excitement.

I’ve had the opportunity to interview Hali a couple of times, and she’s always been not only polite, but really friendly. She almost makes me wonder how someone so sweet can be such a tiger in the water.

The fact that her roots are here in York with the mighty York YMCA swimming program makes this moment even more special, particularly for me. After more than two decades of covering high school swimming, the sport has a special place in my heart.

Yet the sport is different. Athletes can swim for their high schools, they can swim for their clubs or, if allowed, they can do both. Hali didn’t swim for the Rockets in high school, she trained exclusively at the York Y before heading to star at the University of Georgia.

Because I cover primarily high school sports, other than YouTube videos, I had never watched Hali swim live until Tuesday.

And it was incredible seeing someone I know zipping across my TV screen.

Hali isn’t the only area athlete I feel attached to during these Games.

Lancaster natives Jill Witmer (Penn Manor) and Alyssa Manley (Warwick), along with goalkeeper extraordinaire Jackie Briggs (Conrad Weiser) are representing central Pennsylvania on the U.S. Olympic field hockey team. I got to speak with them while covering the U.S. Olympic field hockey team at its training center at Spooky Nook before the group headed to Rio.

Most of the team hails from Pennsylvania, and it's been awesome to watch them succeed. Like many others, I am really proud of all four of these athletes I have conversed with, and the entire U.S. team.

So as much as I love ice hockey, move over, "Miracle." There’s another favorite Olympic memory that will now share the sports mantel of my mind.