4 local swimmers headed to Olympic trials

It’s 6:45 a.m., and there is still a chill outside as the sun rises sluggishly. Inside the NOVA of Virginia Aquatics center on Gayton Road in western Henrico, four teen girls and their teammates pull themselves out of the pool and head to the bathrooms to change before catching their rides home, where they will get ready for the school day.

These four practice diligently, with the older ones spending about 16 hours in the pool each week and lifting weights three more times.

That practice has paid off in a big way: Zoe Dixon, Josephine Fuller and Megan Pulley – all of Henrico – and Grace Sheble of Chesterfield each qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for swimming, which will be held June 21-28 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Dixon and Fuller qualified at a meet last weekend, while Pulley and Sheble qualified in January.)

Dixon, 15, qualified in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200- meter IM. She has been swimming since she was about 18 months old, said her mother, Erica Dixon. Zoe’s older brother swam, and Erica Dixon brought all the children to the pool when he practiced, she said. Zoe swam in her first meet at age 4 in Gordonsville, Virginia, before the Dixons moved to Henrico County and Zoe began swimming at NOVA.

“She’s got that, I call it the fire in her belly,” Erica Dixon said. “She really likes to work hard.”

Josephine Fuller, 16, qualified in the 100-meter backstroke. She started swimming at about age 7 and started at NOVA three years later. Her dad was a swimmer, mom Andrea Fuller said, and Josephine would play in the pool as a 1-year-old.

When she turned 10, she wanted to swim year-round, her mom said.

She slowly and steadily began placing at swim meets and won the “Most Improved” award at NOVA for several years before she was invited to swim at the highest level at NOVA.

Although the sport is hard work, the summer swim team is relaxed and keeps the sport fun, Andrea Fuller said.

“I’m really excited to go [to the Olympic trials] with my teammates and I’ve never been to Nebraska, so that’s cool,” Josephine Fuller said.

Pulley, 17, qualified for the trials in the 100-meter butterfly. She has been swimming since she was about 5 years old, according to her mom, Valerie Pulley. Her older sister swam, and her babysitter took them to the pool in the summer, Sally said, which led Megan to begin swimming. Megan tried several sports as a young child, but swimming is the one she loved, Sally said.

David Schrek coached Pulley when she was in the 12-and-under age group and again this year and praised her dedication to the sport.

“She’s a racer,” he said. “You know when she gets up on the blocks, she’s going to go fast. She’s going to give it her all.”

Pulley has tremendous determination, Schrek said, and performs well despite not always being able to make practices.

Pulley has verbally committed to NC State.

Sheble qualified in the 400-meter IM, 200-meter IM and 200-meter butterfly. She began swimming as a 6-year-old in a summer league, and her parents hoped swimming would keep her active in the summer. But she loved the sport and started swimming year-round at NOVA as an 8-year-old, mom Sharon Shelbe said.

“She talks to her coaches,” she said. “She lets them know what her goals are and asks what she needs to do to achieve it.”

Sheble had qualified before, making the 400-meter IM time as a 13-year-old, but she requalified with the updated time standards in January.

NOVA Head Coach Geoff Brown, who works with Fuller, Dixon and Sheble, lauded their approach to training.

“They have good work ethics,” Brown said. “They show up to practice, and they’re not afraid to hustle.”

The close-knit team encourages each other, and the friendships keep the sport fun – a sentiment that each girl expressed.

“We’re all one big team and there aren’t separate groups in our team,” Fuller said. “We’re all friends with each other.” Erica Dixon sees that friendship at her daughter’s meets.

“I don’t video often,” she said, “but I videoed the meet before this last one, and what I was videoing is her teammates jumping up and down on the pool deck and screaming and all of her friends yelling ‘Go! Go! Go!’ It’s just so nice to see that support for each other, and they leave it in the water and they’re the best of friends out of the water. It’s wonderful.”