MESA, Ariz. — Payton Sorenson has all of us looking ahead to the next Summer Olympic Games.
"I made it to the Olympic trials in 2016, 2020 and most recently to the top 12 for the Men's 50 Free semifinals in June," Sorenson told 12News.
Sorenson shared that in this sport the average age of an Olympic swimmer is roughly 24, so at age 30, he is training even harder to chase his dreams, hoping to break the 22-second time for his race.
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"Swimming, you kind of get edged out around my age, so at this point, it's just a longevity thing to see how long I can keep going and kind of changing the norms around the sport," he added.
Sorenson said it’s a sport he picked up naturally after doing it in summer rec leagues as a kid.
"My mom would shew us out of the house and put us all in swimming and then I've been doing it through high school and college."
Sorenson's career has been filled with wins.
His wins include four City Championships with swim coach Rob Ronan and the Mountain View Toros.
Then at BYU, Sorenson became the season MVP for every year during his time there, setting new records along the way.
At this point, Sorenson plans to start the training now and work on form and power.
"It's going to be a lot more consistency. My consistency this go around was very short-term," said Sorenson. "It was a month and a half, essentially, of training leading up to see if I could go again."
His focus now is getting a jump on training with conditioning Coach Kristian Thalin.
The coach said it's the little details that will get Sorenson to the next level and ultimately to L.A. in 2028.
Sorenson works a full-time job at Diversified Roofing and has committed his training time to before and after work, along with any time between schedules.
"I have to work around scheduled meetings in the office, but for the most part, it's taking calls and setting up my schedule with homeowners but every time there's been a transition point in my career, it's been a little scary," said Sorenson. "I have always gotten nervous every time I've raced."
Sorenson welcomes the butterflies in order to freestyle in Southern California surrounded by an amazing support system.
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