Freshmen, even talented ones, are supposed to be seen and not heard.

But two all-state finishes at the Class 2A swimming and diving meet have elevated Erin Buck's profile among her Maple Grove teammates.

"There are some girls who have come up to me and been like, 'I want to swim like you,'" Buck said. "It still hasn't exactly hit me yet that people look up to me even though I'm a freshman."

Deferring control of the team to the seniors shows that Buck knows her place. But she is also determined to reach her potential in the pool. She entered this week with two top-10 performances in the coaches association honor roll, seventh in the 100-yard freestyle and second in the 100 backstroke.

The latter event is something new for Buck, who achieved her greatest success the past two seasons in the freestyle. As a seventh-grader, she helped the Crimson 400 freestyle relay team to a fourth-place finish. Last season she led off the seventh-place 200 freestyle relay. In addition, she qualified for state in the 100 and 200 freestyles.

Buck spoke with Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque about her two trips to state, the impact of a former teammate and her plans to make a name for herself in the backstroke.

Q You've gone to state twice in freestyle but you've become one of the better backstrokers this year. Which stroke would you say is your strength?

A I actually started out as a backstroker and then went on and off with freestyle. Last year my coach [Matthew Schoen] was deciding between the 100 back and 200 free, and he just thought since I hadn't had much experience with the 100 back at that time, he would just go with what he knew I was good at and had me swim the 200 free. But this year, he has been putting me more in backstroke. I swam it a lot in the offseason and got really comfortable with it. It's now one of my favorite strokes. If I could pick any event to swim at state, it would probably be the 100 backstroke.

Q How have you improved since last season when you were in the consolation finals of your two individual events?

A Last year as an eighth-grader I went out there and swam as fast as I could. There were a lot of good girls who I was racing against. This year I feel like I've gotten a lot faster, I've increased my training and I've worked a lot harder to get to where I am right now. So I think I have a better shot of making top-eight and getting all-state.

Q What sort of influence was [graduated senior] Elaine Boosalis on your approach to swimming?

A She was actually a big influence. She was just so motivational at practice and taught me to work hard and contribute to the team. She would also talk about how even if you didn't have the best race, it's going to be OK and you're next race is another chance to show what you've got.

Q Are you close to any of the girls you swim with in the offseason? Anyone we might see at state?

A One of them is Emma Paulson [junior at Wayzata]. Her backstroke is amazing. The other is Courtney Evensen [freshman at Armstrong]. We've been good friends for a long time. We'll talk about our races, how practices have been and upcoming meets. We know we'll be racing one another for a long time.