Chloe Sutton was still doing a mix of pool and open-water swims late in 2010 when she decided to concentrate on one and abandon the other.

It took care of itself, actually.

Open-water swimming means braving unpredictable waves and water temperatures, dodging the occasional marine creatures and dealing with the flying elbows and kicks of competitors unrestrained by any sort of lane markings.

"There was a few races in there where I got out of the water and I was like, 'You know what? I didn't enjoy that,'" Sutton said. "I was scared. I have all these doubts in my mind. And as soon as you start doubting, it makes it harder to be able to push yourself to those levels.

"I had a meeting with my coach and I was like, 'I don't want to do it anymore. I want to focus on the pool.' I feel like it's much safer, much more exciting, more glamorous. Open water is kind of rough and tough, and I'm a girly-girl."

Sutton, a 19-year-old former Nebraskan, was a U.S. Olympian in open-water swimming in 2008. She finished 22nd in the 10K as a 16-year-old. Her goal is to make the Summer Games via the pool in 2012, which will require passing through Omaha and performing well in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The pool has that nice black stripe at the bottom that she can see and follow. Her lane is a comfortable 8 feet wide and protected from those on either side. The water is almost always a cozy 80 degrees and of the same consistency.

And the CenturyLink Center will have crowds in the 10,000 range, a radical change from the small numbers who strain to watch open-water events from makeshift bleachers on the beach.

"You go to things like the Olympic Trials and you see the crowds and how excited people get about swimming," said Sutton, who made an Omaha visit this week. "Then you go to the World Championships for open water and there are a few people milling around on the beach."

Sutton could have continued to do both, but it's hard to balance preparing for some races that last four minutes and others that go two hours.

So she is concentrating on the 800- and 400-meter freestyle races with the U.S. Trials a little more than six months out. She was third in the 800 at the 2008 Trials, and has the second-fastest 800 in the world this year behind Kate Ziegler.

"I have so much more speed now," she said. "I've dropped a lot of times off my races, even though I know I still have a bit of a ways to go to where truly I'm happy and where truly I'm satisfied with my times."

Sutton, from Mission Viejo, Calif., lived in Omaha as a preschooler while her father was an Air Force colonel stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. Because of training and travel, she completed high school through a University of Nebraska independent study program.

"It was difficult," she said, "but I know that I wouldn't be where I am swimming-wise if I had gone to school."

She said her rise in the open-water ranks just kind of happened after some success when she was 13. It snowballed during the following five years.

In 2010, she was still good enough and versatile enough to make U.S. Nationals in both the pool and open water. But her own reservations about open-water competition only multiplied after the death of a colleague and friend, Fran Crippen, while swimming a 10K in unusually warm waters in the United Arab Emirates in October 2010.

Sutton said she won't miss the open waters.

"Every course is different. Every race is different. Every race has different conditions," she said. "It's a crazy, crazy sport. I don't get nearly as nervous before pool races because I know exactly what to expect."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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