As the rest of her class receives their diplomas during the graduation ceremony, Deborah Roth will be in Spain competing at a swim meet.

Roth, who has swum for both Redwood and North Bay Aquatics throughout high school, is looking to have a professional or Olympic future in swimming.

While Roth currently holds the school record for the 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle, 500-meter freestyle, 200-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley, she considers making the National Youth Team for the 100-meter backstroke her greatest accomplishment.

Only two swimmers in the nation quality in each event to be on the National Youth “A” Team.

Roth also advanced to the Olympic trials for the 100-meter backstroke when she was a sophomore.

“That was a big goal of mine,” she said. “Then I finally made it so that was a relief.”

The National Youth Team has taken her overseas to swim, where she had the opportunity to sit next to Michael Phelps on a bus between a meet last summer. Though Roth has had much experience swimming, she still feels pressure at events on the international level.

“International meets are different because you’re so used to competing nationally,” she said. “Nationally, people are fast, but you just know them more. Internationally there is way more depth than in the United States so you are not seeded as high in the rankings.”

Roth plans to be involved in the next Olympics, though she is deciding whether to represent the United States or Costa Rica. She has the option to do either because her mom was born in Costa Rica, which allowed her to obtain a dual citizenship.

“If I represent Costa Rica I’m automatically in the Olympics without even going to trials or anything,” she said. “If I compete for the United States I have to go to Olympic trials and make top two for my event, which is pretty difficult.”

According to Roth, her mom was the person who initially encouraged her to begin swimming when she was five years old.

“My mom put me in sports she had done,” she said. “I guess I was lucky with that one. She wanted me to do sports where there wasn’t much risk of injury. A lot of kids do swimming because they need to learn how to swim, but I ended up really liking it.”

Roth said swimming has shaped her life in major ways.

“It keeps me more focused on things that should be focused on,” she said. “Instead of having a ridiculous social life it’s pretty low key.”

Roth also attributes her success and motivation in school to swimming.

“Since I don’t have time to come home and relax after school, I just have to come home and get my homework done,” she said. “It makes me really efficient.”

However, learning to balance schoolwork and swimming has been stressful for Roth. “Missing a workout isn’t really an option for me,” she said. “Sometimes I just have to plan a lot or go to bed really late.”

Next year Roth will be swimming at UC Berkeley and working on a major in Integrative Biology. She is currently considering taking time between undergraduate and graduate school to go pro, with the intention of going back to school and eventually getting a job in sports medicine.