Swim standout: Local teen qualifies for events outside of Alaska

PALMER — Karson Kolberg in it for the long haul.

The 13-year-old swimming standout recently qualified for two major meets in the Lower 48 after posting the top time during the 200-yard backstroke at the 2019 Winter Splash Meet in Anchorage.

“I’m just super proud of his hard work and his dedication,” Karson’s mother Wendy Kolberg said.

Karson notched a time of 2 minutes, 6.86 seconds in the event. He said since he was 10 he’s had a prevailing goal. Earn the best times he can in the 200 backstroke.

“They’re kinda’ my thing,” Karson said. “A lot of kids, when they’re not that great at a sport, they skip practices and stuff. They’re not that driven towards it. We’re always going to practice.”

Karson’s victorious time qualifies him to go to Federal Way, Washington, in March for the 2019 Northwest Age Group regional swim meet. It also grants him the opportunity to swim in Gresham, Oregon, for the 2019 Western Zone Age Group Championships in August.

“The times are really what matters in swimming,” Karson said.

Karson said unlike other states, Alaska has less competition so swimmers typically only need one time to qualify for regionals. Wendy said that there are seven kids in Alaska who qualified that she knows of. Karson is the only boy in the Valley to qualify.

“There’s not really a yearlong sport that you can really do besides hockey or swimming here,” Karson said.

Karson is following the same path as his older brother, Konner. They both started swimming at the same time, six years ago. Ever since the two joined the Northern Lights Swimming Club, Karson has been nipping his 16-year-old brother’s heels. Wendy said that their swimming club has a records board and Konnor set several records over the years, only to have Karson swoop in to take a huge chunk for himself.

“Konnor gets all the records and then Karson comes in behind him, slowly overtakes every record except for 50 and 100,” Wendy said with a laugh.

Northern Lights Swim Club is blanketed under Alaska Swimming Inc., which serves as a subdivision of U.S.A. Swimming. Clubs like Northern Lights operate under U.S.A. Swimming guidelines and get their swimmers on a year-round circuit of meets. Each meet is an opportunity for swimmers to earn their regional qualifying times.

The two brothers are three years apart but their similar height and appearance prompts the reoccurring question, ‘are you two twins?’ Konnor said they get that question a lot but they have their own strengths and weaknesses.

“We’re almost like opposites,” Konnor said.

Konnor is a stronger short distance swimmer while his brother excels at longer races.

“Ever since he was 10, he’s always been good at holding his speed,” Konnor said.

Before moving to Alaska from Arizona, the brothers learned the fundamentals of swimming from a family friend. Karson said that they started out with basic skills, mostly going in to stay active during the winter, but overtime they started improving and became more invested in the sport. Konnor agreed.

“We started to improve a lot after a year-and-a-half. That’s when we started qualifying for bigger meets and then started going outside of the state for bigger meets too,” Konnor said.

Konnor said that they’re especially competitive now that his brother is getting older and keeping him on his toes. Their mother thinks their friendly, brotherly rivalry helps motivate them both.

“They’re able to push each other,” Wendy said.

Both boys said they want to swim in the Olympics one day. Next year, Karson will be a freshman at Colony High School and he will be able to spend the next two years swimming with his brother. The two are set for go to another swim meet in Homer this weekend.

“They do lots of meets,” Wendy said.

High school swimming is over in November so being a part of a swim club keeps them actively swimming year round.

“It’s harder to make baseball a year-round sport here whereas swimming, if you have pools you can do it,” Wendy said.

Karson said that he’s had a lot of ups and downs but he’s pushed through them. He said that he’s been feeling good in the water and improving his techniques.

“Once I get in the race, pretty much everything in my mind goes away,” Karson said.

Karson said they key to powering through the challenges and improving his overall skills has been through his constant goal setting habits. He said that he shows up to each meet with a specific goal in mind.

“I always like to have something I’m doing it for,” Karson said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com