This isn't what swimming coaches had in mind when they talked to Shelby Buenger about "kid stuff."

The A&M Consolidated senior who was slow coming to the sport proved surprisingly fast once she started, qualifying for the state meet one year after she took up competitive swimming as a freshman.

Buenger and her Tiger teammates are the defending champions on the girls and boys sides for the District 12-5A swimming and diving championships set for Friday and Saturday at the Texas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium.

Seeking her third trip to the UIL State Championships, Buenger has made remarkable progress as a late arrival in a sport usually dominated by swimmers who started training at a much younger age.

Three years ago when Buenger began high school, she and her parents thought she needed a physical outlet. Buenger, who played some youth soccer and tried basketball in middle school, talked to Consol swimming coach Ryan Goodwyn about getting started with his club team rather than the Tigers.

"Usually when someone that age comes in brand new to the sport we explain that we can get them a spot on the club team, but they're going to be swimming with little kids," Goodwyn said. "She had a natural feel for the water. It was almost eerie to watch at first."

Naturally, Buenger felt slightly out of place at the beginning.

"I felt kind of silly because there were a bunch of 10-year-olds around me, and I was a freshman," Buenger said. "I felt really old to be starting something. I didn't know how it would turn out. I didn't know if I would be good. I thought it might be a complete miss."

Buenger was such an immediate hit that Goodwyn had trouble explaining her success to teammates who had been in the sport for years.

Along with Buenger's natural feel for the water, Goodwyn points to intelligence as a reason she excelled at swimming. Buenger is in the top 10 percent of her class and last year was one of 24 Consol students who received letters of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

After spending one year with the Aggie Swim Club, Buenger joined Consol's team. She was a member of a school record-setting relay team as a sophomore and went to the state meet as an alternate. Last year, Buenger swam the anchor freestyle leg on the 200-yard medley relay team that qualified for state.

"I wonder how did I get here all the time," Buenger said. "I never planned for it to go like this. I just wanted to be healthy and have an outlet. That it turned into something like this and that I've been blessed to be on this team and make so many friends, a lot of it's because God just gave me the ability to swim."

Buenger will swim on all three Consol relays and in the 50 freestyle at the district meet. Many of the accomplished Tiger swimmers such as Buenger have targeted their training toward the regional meet in two weeks. Goodwyn said Buenger doesn't know how to back off in any race, or with any lead.

"Part of it is how I was raised, to do everything to your best and for the Lord," Buenger said. "Also it's just the competitiveness. You're not just racing the other team: You are racing the clock and yourself."

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NOTES -- The 12-5A championships will begin with swimming preliminaries and diving finals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Swimming finals are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. The top six finishers in each event will qualify for the Class 5A Region III meet in Mansfield on Feb. 10-11.

What: District 12-5A Swimming & Diving Championships

Where: Texas A&M Rec Center Natatorium

When: Swimming prelims, diving finals 6:30 p.m. Friday; Swimming finals 1 p.m. Saturday

Admission: $5 adults, $3 students

Defending champions: Consol boys and girls

Next: Top six finishers qualify for 5A Region III meet