Lauren Harrington has not been your typical freshman for the Georgia women’s swimming team.

In the few months that she has been a Bulldog, she has won countless races and even earned SEC freshman female of the week for the month of November.

Growing up in Memphis, Tenn., Harrington began swimming at the age of 4 for a local country club.

She had to beg her mother to allow her to swim competitively, since her mother didn’t think of swimming as a “spectator-friendly” sport.

“I begged for long enough that she finally let me do it,” Harrington said. “My parents told me if I ever stopped loving it I could quit, but that didn’t happen.”

True freshman Lauren Harrington has already become an integral part of the Georgia swim team. EVAN STICHLER/Staff

When it came time to choose what university to attend after high school, Harrington had a few specific things in mind.

“I looked for a school I could be happy with, even if I wasn’t swimming,” she said. “I also looked for a very, very good program with good coaches I could trust and was fully confident I could improve under.”

Harrington attended St. Mary’s Episcopal School, which challenged her academically, so the biggest thing she had to learn to adapt to was the collegiate idea of “team.”

“[In college] everybody is working towards the same goals and you have so much more competition at practices, so you stay really motivated all the time,” she said.

Head coach Jack Bauerle praised her ability, impressed by her quick acclimation to swimming at the collegiate level.

“I couldn’t be more happy with how she’s transitioned from high school swimming to college, especially as far as training,” Bauerle said. “She’s very, very dedicated and I think the sky is the limit for her.”

“One thing I’m very excited about it is particularly her attitude,” he added. “It’s perfect, and she approaches the sport the right way.”

One reason Harrington has been able to attain a “perfect” perspective is the chemistry the Lady Bulldogs have created, one of a cohesive unit built off of the encouragement and support from the upperclassmen.

Harrington described the environment as “positive,” and said that she enjoys being part of it.

“I didn’t really have that many people to look up to in high school and now since I have so many it’s really helpful,” Harrington said, “so I’m always kind of keeping that in mind for when I’m not a freshman and there are people younger that might be looking up to us for advice.”

Even though the Lady Bulldogs are ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation, Harrington said she tries not to pay attention to the rankings, instead wanting to focus on what she and the team needs to do to be successful.

“I think we have to ignore all the rankings and go in there and compete our best,” she said. “Whatever happens happens. Hopefully it’s a good outcome.”

And when it comes to having a target on their backs as the top-ranked team, Harrington laughed it off.

“I think people should be scared,” she said.

This year’s deep freshman class has played a major part in the team’s success, and Harrington isn’t afraid to admit it.

“I know we have a really, really good class and that we’re all going to be blowing people away at NCAA’s,” she said. “They won’t know what’s coming with our freshmen and they won’t know what to expect.”

And Bauerle doesn’t think Harrington’s fabulous freshman season will be an anomaly, either.

“She’s real important to our success this year and will be for the next few years,” he said. “I think she’s going to enjoy some great things in this sport.”