A broken back nearly shattered Jill Weckbach's dreams of earning a Division I swimming scholarship.

While other unrecruited senior swimmers worked harder than ever last summer, Weckbach went out of her way to avoid the water.

It wasn't out of laziness.

She was simply following her doctor's orders after suffering a stress fracture in her back last April.

"I really wanted to swim in college and I was scared I wasn't going to be able to with a broken back," Weckbach said. "... I just quit everything and I pretty much just laid around for a long time to get that healed."

Weckbach spent April through October on a couch rather than in a pool.

"It worried me a lot actually," Weckbach said. "I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to swim (in college). I didn't know if I was going to be able to pick back up to where I was."

Last week the Quincy Notre Dame senior swimmer signed a national letter of intent to swim at Southern Illinois University.

That's a very confusing sentence -- since a.) QND doesn't have a swimming team and b.) SIU doesn't recruit athletes off sofas. Or do they?

How else did the Salukis find Weckbach?

For the determined girl who finished 11th in the 100 freestyle at the March 2007 USA state swimming meet, unknowingly swimming with a broken back, the recruiting process was rather painless.

Two months ago, Weckbach visited the Carbondale campus, spoke with coach Rick Walker and told him her times.

"He said right away, 'We've got a spot for you on the team,'" Weckbach said. "And I was shocked. He hadn't even seen me swim. ... It seemed way too good to be true. I was expecting him to go check stuff, check all of my times throughout my whole entire career, talk to my swim coach and come out to watch me sometime. But he's just like, 'Nope. There's a spot on the team for you.' I'm like, 'Holy cow!'"

Her 15 years competing for the Sheridan Swim Team paid off for the athlete who specializes in the 200 Individual Medley, 400 IM and 100 freestyle.

She knew QND didn't have a swimming team when she decided to attend the school. Attending school with her junior high friends meant more to her, since she could always just swim at Sheridan, which she did.

Plus, she made the freshman cheerleading team four summers ago -- further swaying her to give QND a shot.

Four years later and she'll be holding a QND diploma next month.

It's funny how things work sometimes.

She ended up being a two-time IHSA state qualifier in cheerleading and never made -- or attempted to make -- the IHSA state swimming meet.

In the fall, Weckbach will go from a high school without a pool to fulfilling her Division I swimming dreams at a university.

Without any restrictions this summer, Weckbach plans on making up for lost time.

"I pretty much live out (at Sheridan) right now," Weckbach said. "... Then in the summer I will be swimming every morning and every afternoon -- trying to get my times (down) and get in shape for college-level swimming."

-- mgoldberg@whig.com / 221-3367