Mary Mohler

Personal life

Mohler was born into an Italian-American family in Middlesex, New Jersey. Her father, Robert DeScenza, works as a structural engineer and her mother, Margaret DeScenza, is a homemaker. She attended Rosary High School in Aurora, Illinois where she was best known for being the Illinois High School Association state champion for the 100 yard Butterfly from 1998 to 2001. During the off season of her high school swim team, Mohler was a member of the Academy Bullets Swim Club based in Aurora, Illinois. She started swimming at the age of 6 and joined the swim club shortly after. Following graduation from high school in 2002, she attended the University of Georgia where she graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Mohler's collegiate swimming career reached its peak as she became a four-time NCAA champion in the 200 butterfly, only the second to do so besides Mary "Madame Butterfly" Meagher, from 2003 to 2006.

During and after her collegiate career, Mohler qualified for the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials but failed to make both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Swim Team. Even though she had two disappointing results from the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, she continues to train for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics with hopes of making the team. To aid in her efforts towards the 2012 Summer Olympics, Mohler currently competes in the 2008–2009 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. Currently, she is ranked first in the series and obtaining best times for her Butterfly events.

She has two other siblings who also shared the love for swimming. Mohler has an older sister, Katie, and a younger sister, Patricia. Her younger sister, also qualified in the 200 m butterfly for the 2004 Olympic Swim Trials. Mohler's personality has been described by friends and family as very outgoing and quirky, so she has been known to have the nicknames of "Crazy" and "Crazy Mary." Mohler has a long-haired weiner dog named Speedo. Before swimming, she participated in soccer and softball. Outside of swimming, she likes to relax by laying out on a beach. In addition, her favorite hobbies outside the pool are baking, reading, and shopping. She hopes to one day be a nurse or a veterinarian.

Club swimming career

After walking past a community pool with her older sister Katie, Mohler fell in love with the sport of swimming. Taking after her older sister, she dedicated herself to longs hours of practice. She was determined to do well and had dreams of making it to the Olympic games some day. Mohler's hard work started to pay off as she distinguished herself from other swimmers with her phenomenal swimming with the Academy Bullets Swim Club before high school and during the high school off season. Her coach Bill Schalz worked with her to better her stroke techniques as she went on to do well at all of the Chicago Area swim invitationals. Currently, her 11/12 year old, 13/14 year old, and Senior Women short course yards and long course meters records at the Academy Bullets Swim Club still stand.

High school swimming career

Her success at the club team level continued as she competed for the Rosary High School Swim Team at the Illinois High School Association State Swim Meet. She graduated with her high school diploma in 2002. Mohler was a two-time state champion in the 200 yard Freestyle, a four-time state champion in the 100 yard Butterfly, and a two-time state champion in the 200 yard Medley Relay. She broke the 100 yard Butterfly IHSA state record during the 2001 state finals with the time of 53.11.

Collegiate career

Mohler continued her high school success in the pool at the collegiate level. She attended the University of Georgia(UGA) from Fall 2002 through Spring 2007 and was majoring in Biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. While attending classes, she was a member of the UGA Swimming & Diving Team. She earned seven All-American certificates, and was a four-time NCAA champion in the 200 yard butterfly from 2003–2006. This was only the second time a swimmer had won four NCAA championships in the 200 yard Butterfly, previously accomplished by Mary T. Meagher. In 2005, the UGA Swimming & Diving Team won the NCAA title. That year, she participated on four of the five winning relays and won two of her individual events, the 100 and 200 yard Butterfly.[7] Her records set at UGA still stand for the 100 and 200 yard Butterfly with the times of 51.56 and 1:53.51, respectively. She was the recipient of the 2005–06 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.

2004 U.S. Olympic swim trials

During her collegiate swimming career, Mohler qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials. As the reigning NCAA four-time champion in the 200 meter Butterfly event, it was an upset that DeScenza didn't qualify under this event. She came in fourth, top two make the Olympic team, behind Dana Kirk, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Whitney Myers with the time of 2:10.89. DeScenza's younger sister failed to qualify in the 200 meter Butterfly as well. Other events Mohler failed to qualify in were the 100 meter Freestyle nor the 100 meter Butterfly.

Swimming career after college

A year before graduating from the University of Georgia, Mohler signed with major swimsuit brand TYR Sports, Inc.. TYR will be her official swimwear until 2010. Mohler had a smooth transition from swimming as an amateur in college to a professional swimmer. Unlike amateur swimming, she now gets paid to swim, do photo shoots, and hold swim camps. Narrowly missing the 2004 Olympic Swim Team, DeScenza knew that she had to redeem herself. She felt that it was a "blessing in disguise" because she was able to focus more of her swimming and train harder by learning from her mistakes. Mohler continued training in 2007 for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials by competing in the 2007–2008 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. She came in second in the rankings, behind Michael Phelps by 76 points.

2008 U.S. Olympic swim trials

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials brought disappointment once again. Mohler was just short of a spot on the 2008 Olympic Swim Team. She just missed a spot on the team by coming in fourth place, top two make the team, in the 200 meter Butterfly. Mohler represented the Athens Bulldog Swim Club and came in with the time of 2:09.23. She was out touched by newcomers Elaine Breeden, Kathleen Hersey, and Kim Vandenberg. She has learned from this experience and has put it behind her. Mohler also failed to make it in the 100 meter Butterfly. She finished sixth, top two make the Olympic Team, with the time of 58.72.

2008 U.S. Open

At the 2008 U.S. Open Swim meet, Mohler finished 10th in the 100m freestyle, 4th in the 100m backstroke, and 5th in the 200m backstroke. In the 200m Freestyle, she tied for 1st place with Kristen Heiss. In the 100m butterfly, Descenza won 1st place, and broke the U.S. Open meet record. She also won the 200m butterfly, and anchored the Athens Bulldogs' meet champion and meet record setting 4 × 200 m freestyle relay.

Current: 2008–2009 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series

Currently, she continues to swim for Athens Bulldog Swim Club and coached by Jack Bauerle. She trains by swimming at least 12,000 yards/meters for five hours, six days a week. Her swimming is improving due to putting less pressure on herself and more on enjoying swimming. As of March 5, 2009, Mohler stands firmly in first place on the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series with 104 points. She is 47 points ahead of Olympian Ryan Lochte. The Minnesota Grand Prix was held at the University of Minnesota swimming facility on November 14, 2008. The second meet of the series began on January 16, 2009. Mohler started the new year with six gold medals, one silver medal, and an American short course record for the 200 yard Butterfly 1:51.28. The Missouri Grand Prix was held at the University of Missouri swimming facility on February 13, 2009. The Austin Grand Prix was held at the University of Texas at Austin swimming facility on March 5, 2009. There are two remaining swim meets of the series. The Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix will be held at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 14, 2009. The Santa Clara International Grand Prix Swim Meet will be the final swim meet of the USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series. It will be held at the pool of the Santa Clara Swim Club in Santa Clara, California on June 11, 2009.

Awards and titles

The following is a list of awards and titles Mohler has received according to TYR Sport Inc. Athlete Biography: Mary DeScenza and USA Swimming Biography: Mary DeScenza.

Personal best times

Mohler has swum a multitude of events. A table of all of her best times can be found at the USA Swimming website. The most notable best times are for 200 m Butterfly and 100 m Butterfly.