When Auburn swimmer Kelsey Roe starts narrowing down her college options soon, coaches will no doubt be happy to know that they'll be getting quite a well-rounded athlete.

Roe swam everything from the 100 freestyle to the 100 backstroke, individual events and relays for the Maroons. But her greatest triumph came in the 100 butterfly. She qualified for states in the event and finished 47th in the preliminaries. Roe finished fourth at the Section III, Class A Championships in 1:01.89, making her The Citizen's swimmer of the year.

“Everything she's gotten, she's worked for it,” said Auburn coach Tom Clary. “She's pretty much got the most out of her talent.”

Clary has had Roe, like most of his swimmers, under his tutelage for a number of years.

“As a first-year kid she was a talented swimmer coming up,” he said. “You'd hope that the mental side of it - the dedication - would equal the talent and it really did.”

Roe not only qualified for states in the butterfly, she holds the school record in the 100 backstroke - an event that she also finished fourth in at sectionals (1:03.56), barely missing out on the state-qualifying mark.

Clary could put her in almost every event and guarantee a positive result. Roe was one of five seniors (Molly Swartz, Tiffany Kline, Megan McNamara and Tracy Miller are the others) that guided a young team to a 7-3 record and to a fourth-place team finish at sectionals.

Clary will find plenty of things to miss about Roe's contributions when 2009 rolls around.

“We're going to miss her a lot,” he said. “She's going to be very hard for us to replace, not only because she swims anything I need her to swim but because she does it at such a high quality. She sets the tone for the other girls to follow.”