With three school records, NCAA All-American status and a silver medal from the 2009 European Short-Course Championships, senior Jane Trepp is already among the best swimmers in school history.
While her résumé has garnered respect from teammates and coaches, recognition from rival schools has been decidedly lacking.
Trepp, an Estonia native whose first name is pronounced “Yah-nay,” routinely hears her name mispronounced at opposing swimming venues despite her Southeastern Conference success.
“Of course I’m going to react when someone calls me ‘Jane,'” Trepp said. “Some people still do … professors, some teachers, they don’t even know I’m foreign. I don’t really mind if people call me either way.”
Misguided announcers aside, Trepp’s career at LSU has been almost ideal.
After cracking LSU’s all-time top-10 in three different events her freshman year, Trepp has steadily progressed to the point where she’s chasing her own records now rather than those of past swimmers.
LSU coach Dave Geyer said Trepp’s ability to swim so many different events makes her especially valuable to the Lady Tigers.
“Anyone that can come in and set three school records in three different disciplines is a unique talent, so she’s obviously benefited us with her individual performance but also on relays, [qualifying] teams to NCAAs and helping out with that stuff as well,” he said.
However, Trepp has yet to swim her best races on the biggest stage.
At last season’s SEC championships, Trepp qualified for the finals of three events but failed to match her preliminaries time in any of her races. In the 100-yard butterfly, she entered the final with the top prelim time but struggled to a fifth-place finish.
One month later, she failed to qualify for an event final at the NCAA championships.
“I really want to swim an NCAA final,” Trepp said. “That’s my main goal.”
Fellow senior Ali Sanford said Trepp’s motivation and work ethic are contagious within the team.
“Freshman year coming here, I really wasn’t sure how competitive the team was going to be,” Sanford said. “Just her being in my class, it really motivates me to want to be better and work harder for the team. She sets a standard for our team.”
Once her LSU career is done, Trepp will intensify her training for the 2012 Olympics. After narrowly missing out on the 2008 Olympics, she expects to qualify to represent Estonia in the London Olympiad.
“It’s a big deal to make the Olympics for every single person,” Trepp said. “I have to be thankful that I have this opportunity to be that close. That would be a great year to be done with swimming and put a period on my entire career.”
 
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Contact Ryan Ginn at [email protected]