{"id":2453298,"date":"2020-01-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=319208"},"modified":"2020-01-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T07:00:00","slug":"coming-off-first-world-cup-points-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/photos\/coming-off-first-world-cup-points-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming off first World Cup points, Swirbul continues to rise as cross-country skier"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.187265917603\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-319208-0\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.46428571428571\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9.2857142857143\">\n<p><strong>Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1024x768.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1024x768.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1-731x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.46428571428571\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9.2857142857143\">\n<p><strong>Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1-731x1024.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1-731x1024.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-1-731x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-2-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.46428571428571\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9.2857142857143\">\n<p><strong>Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-2-1024x768.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-2-1024x768.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-2-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-3-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.46428571428571\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9.2857142857143\">\n<p><strong>Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-3-1024x768.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-3-1024x768.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/swirbul-atd-011620-1-3-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">For a few brief moments, Hailey Swirbul was the star of the U.S. cross-country ski team. Sure, she was far off the standard set by American teammate Sophie Caldwell that day \u2014 in fact, she was only fifth among all U.S. women in the race \u2014 but her 30th-place finish was what stood out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI keep saying the most exciting part of that day was how excited my teammates were. I think they understand that they are part of that little step \u2014 or to me a big step \u2014 that I made,\u201d Swirbul recently told The Aspen Times. \u201cThey see that and they celebrate that and that\u2019s special to have the team supporting me and be that happy for me. Meanwhile, Sophie Caldwell is third on the day and she gets a normal congratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The day was Dec. 14 at a World Cup sprint in Davos, Switzerland. Swirbul, a 2016 Basalt High School graduate and former Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club athlete, was getting a rare and surprising World Cup start in only her second season with the U.S. ski team. More of a distance athlete, by no means did Swirbul believe her first World Cup points would come in a sprint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Then again, she brought extra clothes with her that day just in case she needed them, should she get past the qualifying rounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere is definitely something to be said about that,\u201d Swirbul pondered. \u201cI kind of threw in a change of clothes as an afterthought in case I made it. So I don\u2019t know if I fully believed I was going to pull that off. Part of me did, obviously, because I brought a change of clothes in the end and I ended up needing them to go onto the heats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Swirbul started four World Cup races last winter, her first on that stage. Her best finish was 41st, the spot she finished in three of her four races. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/basalts-hailey-swirbul-to-start-cross-country-ski-season-on-world-cup\/\">She opened the 2019-20 season on the World Cup<\/a>, getting three starts in Ruka, Finland, with underwhelming results. She had been slated to compete in Lillehammer, Norway, a week later, but fell ill and had to sit out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe period started off a little rough for me,\u201d Swirbul said. \u201cI definitely got served a big slice of humble pie and that was what I expected, so it wasn\u2019t a huge defeated feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Then came Davos. She hadn\u2019t planned on starting that Dec. 14 sprint, but when a few of her teammates fell ill and couldn\u2019t compete, a spot opened and she decided to give it a go. Somehow, on a whim, she finished 30th, which is the cutoff for scoring World Cup points. Her first World Cup point was exactly that, a single point in a sprint race she wasn\u2019t even suppose to be in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The next day, she finished 21st in a 10-kilometer freestyle for the first distance points of her World Cup career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat was really, really exciting,\u201d Swirbul said. \u201cI was really glad I was able to make that jump and prove to myself that I can do it again after a little bit of tough World Cup races in the past I\u2019ve had. It\u2019s no joke over there. If you are off in one race, if you are not 100% feeling it, then you are going to be way off the back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Following Davos, Swirbul returned home for a while over the holidays before she competed in the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships at the Michigan Tech Nordic Skiing Center in Houghton, Michigan. Fresh off the World Cup starts, Swirbul was simply dominant in Michigan, taking home national championships in the freestyle sprint, classic sprint and 20-kilometer classic. She was fourth in the 10k freestyle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A nice bonus, her attention will certainly be back on the international stage the remainder of this winter. She hopes for more World Cup starts, but said her main races will be at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usskiandsnowboard.org\/news\/u23-junior-world-cross-country-championship-teams-announced\">U23 world championships<\/a> held Feb. 28 to March 8 in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m going to try and not let it add extra pressure to me for anything. Belief is different than pressure,\u201d Swirbul said of having World Cup points on her resume now. \u201cFor me I think it took believing in myself and focusing on what I do well and my strengths instead of trying to ski like someone else. I think it\u2019s easiest to get caught up in trying to do what other people do really well and kind of lose what you can do well yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like the rest of her teammates, the 21-year-old Swirbul aspires to make the 2022 Winter Olympics roster. And despite being one of the most inexperienced members of the current U.S. squad, she looks to be in a good position to make that happen. Scoring her first World Cup points have certainly helped her standing, all part of the journey she\u2019s had in finding her role on the national team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf anything they have made me feel like an insider. Everyone on the team has included me and brought me and helped build me up,\u201d Swirbul said. \u201cIt feels less weird to have dinner with all these incredible Olympians and athletes, but it\u2019s also important for me to remember and take a step back sometimes. I\u2019m so lucky to be able to be part of it in whatever way I can. I think I\u2019m finding my place more in the group and they\u2019ve been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/coming-off-her-first-world-cup-points-hailey-swirbul-continues-to-rise-as-cross-country-skier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo Hailey Swirbul from Dec. 27, 2019, in Aspen. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2453298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news","7":"category-photos"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 18:16:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}