It is the arena that makes or breaks the athlete, it is where all the hard work all the grueling hours spent training pay off, it is where the name is made and the star is born. Bailey Nero may not be a household name quite yet, but this fifteen-year-old definitely has the potential. This Fossil Ridge High School sophomore has already competed in what is one of the most competitive arenas in the world, the USA Olympic Swimming Trials.

Her journey to the trials did not start only a year ago when her training regimen was intensified due to the proximity of the trials, but it started some eleven years ago. At the age of four, Nero’s love of the sport of swimming was born. “I kept with (swimming) because I loved it and had strong interest in it,” Nero said. No other sport has made her feel the way she feels when she is in the water.

Although swimming is an enormous part of her life, Nero still finds time to be involved in all sorts of other activities. Her family is a huge part of her life and career. They like to bike, hike and camp and on top of that Nero is a dancer. “I have danced since I was six,” she said. Not to mention all of the school organizations she is involved in as well, which include Select Women’s Choir and Key Club.

Nero is fierce competitor in the water. “When I feel lazy or…I don’t want to keep going,” Nero said, “I think about my competitors and how they are training and I get pumped up and motivated to work hard again.” Despite her talent and competitive spirit as a swimmer, Nero is one of the biggest team players.

Working hard doesn’t even come close to describing the training that Nero goes through. She swims every afternoon for over two hours as well as two days a week at 5:15 am. Nero swims for the Fort Collins Area Swim team in the top group. The group has recently just switched coaches to an acclaimed coach from North Carolina. “I have a new coach and I’m getting training I have never had before,” Nero said.

Coaching and training aren’t the only pieces of the puzzle that contribute to Nero’s overall success. “My mom has been a huge part of my swimming career,” Nero said. “She encourages me at meets, pays for me to swim, she drives me to practice and so much more.” Nero credits her mother for being at the place in swimming that she is at right now, “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Nero said.

Even if her performance at trials didn’t live up to her expectations Nero is still glad that she even got to experience it. “I will never forget it,” Nero said.

But Bailey’s career didn’t end at the 2012 USA Swimming Trials in Omaha; she is looking forward to the future. “Now that I have been to trials, I now have the goal to make it to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.” So don’t be surprised when in four years the name everyone has on their mind is again a Colorado born and bred, but instead of Missy Franklin, the name will be Bailey Nero.