Bangor’s Thomas will swim at Penn State

BANGOR – Erin Thomas still has yet to hear back from at least one college about her application, but she has made her choice pretty clear.

The Bangor High senior, who is one of the top swimmers in the state, is heading to Penn State next fall on a partial scholarship.

Thomas signed her National Letter of Intent last week, about three weeks after visiting the school in State College, Pa.

“It was a lot of fun. I really liked the team and all the coaches,” said Thomas, who was wearing a blue Penn State headband before Tuesday’s Bangor High swim team practice. “They made me feel a part of the team and I felt like I fit in with them the best. It seemed like they matched my personality.”

Most of the top Maine high school and age-group swimmers either attend non-scholarship Division III schools or stay in state, where there are scholarships available for the University of Maine women’s team. There are no scholarships available for the UMaine men.

It’s rare for swimmers, especially from outside the Portland area, to receive scholarships to Div. I schools other than UMaine, especially schools in power conferences like the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions finished third at the Big Ten championship meet and 26th at the NCAA championships last season.

Thomas will have a 35 percent scholarship, which she was told can increase each year.

“It’s kind of special,” she said, shyly shrugging her shoulders.

Thomas also took official recruiting trips to Div. III Kenyon College in Ohio and the University of Washington, which also offered her a partial scholarship. She also applied to Harvard.

She is still waiting to hear from some of those schools, but Thomas said she’s set on Penn State.

Thomas, whose specialties are sprint and mid-distance freestyle and backstroke, was mainly recruited for her 100-yard free time. College coaches like to have several 100 free swimmers not only for the individual event, she explained, but also for relays. Her best time in the 100 free is 52.28 seconds.

She intends to study atmospheric sciences, pursuing an interest in weather and climate change.

This is Thomas’ first year on the Bangor High team after years of only competing for age-group teams in an effort to qualify for the high-profile YMCA National Championships. She has done that in the maximum allowable four events since she was in eighth grade and has three top-13 finishes in the last two years.

Thomas swam first for the Old Town-Orono YMCA-based Canoe City Swim Club and is now a member of the Barracudas, a Bangor Y-based team.

Now that Thomas is a senior in high school and has found her college of choice, the pressure to perform for recruiters is mostly off. She said new Barracudas coach Eric Palmer, a former Bangor High and UMaine standout, was encouraging of his team members to compete in high school swimming.

Thomas still attends several Barracuda practices each week in addition to her practices with the Rams.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays are really busy,” she said of the days she has age-group and high school practices. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Thomas will likely play a key role as the Rams try to win their third straight Class A state championship. Her personal best times in the 100 free, 200 free (1:55.41) and 100 back (59.28) would all have easily won at states in 2007. Her top time in the 200 back, which is not included in Maine high school meets, is 2:07.88.