Hart of a champion: Haverford senior goes out in golden style

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LEWISBURG >> Gold medal around her neck, there’s no canned sports narrative you can project on Maddie Hart that she can’t deflect with the word “fun.”

All of it — pressure, expectations, the weight of a title defense — melts away, forged into the omnipresent smile the Haverford senior wears on a pool deck.

The hardware she receives on podiums from officials is pretty voluminous, too.

Hart added another line on her sterling resume Wednesday, producing a thrilling swim with a last-ditch finish at the wall to wrest away gold in the 100 butterfly at the PIAA Class AAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.

Locked in the familiar battle with Pennridge’s Brittany Weiss, Hart entered as the top seed by more than a second. But Hart viewed those time gaps as artificial creations from two swimmers’ slightly different morning approaches.

“I was not expecting it to be an easy race at all,” Hart said. “I was extremely happy to go my best time in prelims and I did not expect it at all. It gives you a boost of confidence coming in knowing that I am over a second faster than everyone else, but I know that Brittany Weiss could’ve easily gone that in the morning.”

Weiss proved that assertion from the gun, taking the early initiative with Hart nearby. The two separated from the field near the halfway point and were even at the 75-yard wall. Weiss surged through her underwater, but Hart clipped away at the deficit. She delivered her hands to the wall with a perfect finish (think Michael Phelps-Milorad Cavic good in the 100 fly final of the 2008 Olympics), a bang-bang ending followed by a instant’s wait for the scoreboard to announce a winner the naked eye couldn’t discern.

The board showed the No. 1 next to Hart’s name, her time of 53.35 eking out Weiss’s 53.44 by a miniscule margin.
More important for Hart is that her times continue to drop. Her prelim swim of 53.81 was a personal-best and a Delaware County record. It was also the only sub-55 result, Weiss next at 55.02.

The finals time lowers that record, representing an improvement of .79 seconds over her golden time from last year.
And with it comes a little more fun.

“It’s really exciting,” Hart said of successfully defending her crown. “Coming into the meet knowing that you did win it last year, it is a little boost of confidence and it’s always behind you that, ‘you can do this. I’ve done this before and it’s nothing.’ It’s awesome. …

“I’m just having fun, and it’s fun being with my team.”

***

The runaway sprinting freight train that is Claire Walsh kept hurdling toward history.

The Penncrest wunderkind lopped more time off her mind-boggling 50 freestyle, going from a seed of 23.59 to 23.39 in prelims to 23.20 in finals, earning a silver medal.

That time, which is falling like some kind of reverse auction waiting for the gavel to fall, is a Delaware County record. It was second only to Parkland’s Siena Salvaggio, a senior widely expected to win the event, but even her time of 22.93 barely shook Walsh.

“I think I went out a little too slow (in the morning), so on my first lap, I tried to make sure I went out as fast as I possibly could,” Walsh said. “So I really tried to do that and I think I came back well, and I’m really, really happy. I dropped time and that’s all you can ask for.”

That morning swim provided an unusual source of intrigue for the freshman. Walsh went into the water along with another racer after officials called the swimmers to take their marks, then stand back up. No one was disqualified since the water entry occurred after the ref’s call, but Walsh adeptly repurposed what could’ve been a rattling experience.

“In my head, if anything, it made me more determined,” she said after prelims. “I was thinking, I’m not going to let this affect my race. I’m not going to let anyone or anything change the way I’m going to swim today, and I’m going to do as good as I can despite what just happened.”

Walsh shrugged it off, hopping back to the blocks. She controlled the second heat of four, easily winning by three tenths of a second to earn the third seed from finals.

More important than the shade of medal is the precipitous fall in time Walsh has experienced, which has her at a loss for words.

“I have not dropped this much time in such a short period of time in years,” she said. “I’m so happy with this season. I’m so happy with how I did tonight. I’m really happy.”

***

The Delco contingent seemed to gravitate toward the cut lines for finals, seven entrants earning B final swims.

Twice a Delco swimmer landed in the dreaded ninth spot, the top seed in the B final that brings no hope of advancement. Strath Haven’s Frances Resweber sped up in the evening from 1:52.72 to 1:51.38 but slid a spot to 10th in the 200 free. Teammate Summer Martin, meanwhile, held on to her 11th place prelims seed despite being slower in the evening (1:52.97).

Cardinal O’Hara’s Hanna Blewett went from ninth in prelims of the 50 free to 11th, her best time a 23.82 in the morning. Radnor’s Julia Cullen held on to 10th in the 100 fly, quickening to 56.18 at night.

In the 200 IM, Gab Rudy of Ridley was quicker in the evening at 2:06.96 to take 13th. Springfield’s Georgia Apostolu was slower but jumped from 16th to 14th.

Radnor’s medley relay of Cullen, Sasha Smolyansky, Grace Wakiyama and Emily Moyher stepped up with a 1:48.21, shaving a second in the evening to leap from 16th to 13th.

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Matthew De George

Matthew De George
Matthew De George is the Asst. Sports Editor and the lead Union writer for The Daily Times.

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