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GREENSBORO -- Myles Oliver has the talent to be one of the nation's top freestyle swimmers. The challenge for coach Kevin Thornton is figuring out how to help Oliver realize his potential.

Oliver, a rising senior at Grimsley who swims for the Greensboro Swimming Association, showcased his talent two weeks ago at the North Carolina State Long Course Championships in Chapel Hill. With a little help from his coach, Oliver finished first in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events.

"With his personality, he needs fun to be motivated for a race," Thornton said. "If you can find fun in a challenge, he'll go through a wall for it.

"I just told him, 'Swim here fast, take control of the race and see how far you can beat them by.' I don't tell him to try to get a good time, just see how much water you can put between you and the rest of the field."

With his 24.31-second time in the 50 and 54.45 finish in the 100, Oliver not only set meet records but also qualified for this week's USA Swimming National Championships, which began Tuesday in Indianapolis.

He'll swim a time trial in the 100 and compete against the best 50-meter freestylers in the country.

"This is by far the biggest thing I've ever been in," Oliver said before leaving for Indianapolis. "I've competed in events with people from four or five states, but not the whole country. I'm probably going to be pretty nervous with so many good swimmers there."

Nerves don't worry Thornton. He watched one of Oliver's teammates, Eugene Godsoe, emerge in his first senior national event.

"Eugene made the final in the backstroke at the world championships, and that night when he saw his name and his club on the scoreboard, he decided this was what he wanted to do," Thornton said.

Godsoe, a sophomore at Stanford University who swam for Southeast Guilford, made the trip to Indianapolis with Oliver to compete in the backstroke.

Thornton is hoping Godsoe's experience will rub off on his younger teammate.

"Eugene has really helped Myles with confidence issues," Thornton said. "He told him that when you get there, you just get so hyped up that you have no other option than to just swim fast."

If Oliver hopes to make Saturday's final in the 50, he'll need to go faster than he has in any other meet. Thornton thinks Oliver will need to shave between a quarter- and a half-second off his Chapel Hill time.

A recent team trip to La Loma Altitude Training Center in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, should help. There, Oliver, Godsoe and the rest of the GSA squad worked on enhancing their efficiency underwater at 6,233 feet above sea level.

"When you train that high up, your lungs adapt to the thinner air," Oliver said. "When you come back down to sea level, it's a lot easier to breathe."

To decrease his resistance in the pool, Oliver also plans to shave his legs, arms, chest and back.

And just in case he needed a little extra incentive this week, Oliver will be competing against the world champion in his event -- Godsoe's teammate at Stanford, Ben Wildman-Tobriner. Six-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps also is in Indianapolis to compete in several events.

"The fact that (Oliver) is going to be out there with (Godsoe) and Ben Wildman-Tobriner ... that really excites him," Thornton said. "And he's capable of winning it. He made a couple of mistakes in Chapel Hill, and if he can correct just one of those it'll give him four-tenths. So he's got a chance."

Contact Matt Brooks at 373-7047 or mbrooks @news-record.com