Emma Reaney, a Notre Dame swimmer and Lawrence High graduate, competes in the 2014 NCAA championships in Minneapolis.

Lawrence native Emma Reaney has excelled at each stage of swimming she has competed over the years, whether it be the club team, high school or collegiate level.

Reaney, a senior at Notre Dame and American record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, will get a chance to showcase her skills at another level as she competes today through Sunday in the FINA Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

“I got my box with all my gear and kind of had a mini freakout because everything has an American flag on it and everything says USA swimming,” Reaney said. “Technically this is a small meet compared to all of those equal to the Olympics, but if it’s short course world championships or the Olympics, to be able to represent the United States is something that every swimmer dreams about. It’s quite an honor.”

As opposed to the collegiate level, the short course world championship races will be in meters instead of yards, so Reaney is unsure of what to expect in the three events she will be competing in.

Reaney will swim in the 50-meter breaststroke today, 100-meter breaststroke on Friday and 200-meter breaststroke on Sunday.

“I think I’m going to develop a game plan once I get there,” Reaney said. “For the 50 and 100, I have to be a lot quicker and more aggressive than my 200, which I kind of like to use my strength.”

While Reaney, a Lawrence High product, is looking forward to the chance to represent her country this week, she also has her mind set on making more history with the Fighting Irish. Reaney set the U.S. record in the 200-yard breaststroke at the ACC Championships in February, then bettered that mark at the NCAA Championships in March with a time of 2:04:06.

“I really want to get relays to finals at NCAAs, and I would like to repeat being national champion and maybe add a couple more events to that in the 100 (breaststroke) and (200) IM,” Reaney said, “but we’ll see where we are after this kind of paper meet and go from there.”

The senior season has not quite gone to the script Reaney would have hoped. Notre Dame head women’s swim coach Brian Barnes resigned in September in order to spend more time with his two children. Barnes’ wife Alyssa passed away in 2012 after a long bout with cancer.

Reaney was particularly close to Barnes, as she competed for him as a member of the Lawrence Aquahawks club swim team, but she has been understanding of the coaching change. The transition for Reaney and her teammates has been made somewhat easier since former Notre Dame head men’s swimming and diving coach Tim Welsh stepped in as the interim coach.

“Tim has never coached me personally before, but I think this was the best-case scenario after everything that happened,” Reaney said. “To have someone step in that everyone knew and everyone knew that he would do whatever he could to represent this university in the best way. The passion he had for the sport and the school was really comforting to all of us.”

Reaney believes that the experience in big meets that she has gained in three-plus seasons at Notre Dame will help her this week at the world championships.

“The NCAA Championships is pretty darn competitive. Short course world championships isn’t quite as big of a deal as long course world championships are,” Reaney said. “Those will be during the summer. I’m not really sure if each country is bringing their top swimmers, but I think it will be the biggest stage that I’ve competed at thus far (in my career.)”