Relay wrangling yields surprises for Strath Haven, Haverford
LEWISBURG >> Frances Resweber stayed in the warm-down pool, assuming the worst for Strath Haven’s relay fate.
Haverford’s Tara Ryan had already come to grips with the reality that her high school career was over.
Both received a welcomed surprise from twists of relay disqualifying fate.
A pair of disqualifications helped Haven and Haverford jump from alternate positions to grab berths 15 and 16 in Thursday night’s 400 freestyle relay final at the PIAA Class AAA Swimming Championships.
Resweber braced herself for the 17th-place destiny that has long been Haven’s albatross. The squad of Resweber, Camille Jablonski, Summer Martin and Liz Olszewski finished fifth in the first heat of three in 3 minutes, 37.39 seconds, a time requiring assistance to advance. Resweber dreaded that swim joining the ignominious ranks of recent first-alternate results from Haven, including Jablonski in last year’s 100 breaststroke and Resweber and her brother, Clay, in the 200 free two years ago.
Resweber had an evening swim to prepare for, earning the third seed in the 500 free, and winding down the morning session in the water was preferable to watching in anguish as times flooded in.
“I saw Camille kind of standing there and looking at the board, and I said, ‘eh, I’m not going to worry about it,’” Resweber said. “I’m not good with numbers anyway. And right when they finished, I looked up and saw the look on Camille’s face, and I was like, ‘oh, are we 17th?’ And she said, ‘yeah’. I was like, ‘you’re kidding!” I looked at (coach) Dina (Dormer) and Dina was like, ‘I don’t know what to say.’”
The only remedy was waiting, with Resweber and Martin (15th in the 100 free) guaranteed finals swims. Six teams beat Haven in each the second and third heats, consigning them to the wrong side of the cut line. But before it was official on deck, word of a DQ for Reading in the second heat filtered down from the stands to grant Haven a reprieve.
“I was really excited that we got in for the second swim because I think we all know we can swim faster than that,” Resweber said. “My one goggle filled up with water, so I can definitely swim faster. It kind of takes some of the pressure off to have two events at night instead of focusing on just one.”
Haverford’s wait was even longer. The team of Ryan, Grace Myers, Ilira Zherka, Maddie Hart, which snuck into states with the eighth and final at-large berth, finished seventh in the second heat in 3:37.67. In isolation, Reading’s DQ would’ve exacerbated their result. Officials then summoned the coach for Methacton, a sure sign of an impending DQ from the final heat. But after about 10 minutes, by which time the Fords had warmed down, hopped out and gotten changed, there wasn’t yet any word.
It eventually arrived, giving the senior Ryan not just a second chance to swim but, as the first one out of the locker room, the honor of breaking the good news to her relay mates.
“I thought that was the last swim of my swimming career, so it’s awesome,” she said. “… This relay has nine lives.”
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The wait for good news on the boys front similarly stretched to the 400 free relay, though it was relatively devoid of intrigue.
Radnor’s foursome set a quick time in the first heat, settling for sixth in 3:13.07, a half-second quicker than their District One time.
Patience paid off, as the next two heats produced no snags for the team of Patrick Cullen, Greg Giannella, Clayton Bowes and James El-Deiry. They beat half of the next heat, bounding another spot when Hershey jumped early, then waited out a leisurely final heat to glide into 13th.
Even had the process packed more drama, Radnor’s relay participants were at peace with their swim.
“It could’ve been my last swim ever, so we were all just trying to make it a good swim, especially because it could’ve been the last swim of the season for all of us,” said Bowes, the lone senior. “We didn’t really think too much of the B final, we just tried to put it all out there.”
As the last at-large qualifier to states drawn into an outside lane, the Raiders front-loaded the squad to find clean water and avoid the wash from the leaders. Cullen led off in 47.92 seconds, then Giannella, who finished a disappointing 30th in the 100 free, followed with a 48.12 to provide sufficient cushion.
Like Giannella, the other two individual swimmers from Delco met disappointing fates. In the 500, Strath Haven’s Will Resweber placed 23rd in 4:45.13, while Haverford’s Collin Pettit landed 26th (4:46.93).
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From the recurring headlines department:
• Claire Walsh is fast, the Penncrest freshman taking the third seed in the 100 free finals with a time of 50.76 seconds, bettering her county record.
• Hart will be in the medal hunt again as the second seed in the 100 backstroke, her time of 55.27 seconds slightly slower than her seed.
• Gab Rudy and Georgia Apostolu double up on B finals. The Ridley junior tied Downingtown West’s Madi Grenoble for 11th place in the 100 breast in 1:05.29. Springfield’s Apostolu was 13th in the 100 back in 57.49. Julia Cullen of Radnor also earned ninth in the 100 free, shaving a second to 51.66.
