Penncrest’s Walsh puts blinders on, earns medal

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LEWISBURG >> In her third 50 freestyle final in as many years, Claire Walsh knows the ropes.

So the Penncrest junior could joke around with club teammate Camryn Carter of Unionville Wednesday night in the PIAA Class 3A Championships at Bucknell University. She could devise a strategy in Lane 1 that blocked out the field.

And she could enjoy a sixth-place finish, her time of 23.53 seconds bumping up a place from prelims and five from her seed.

It’s Walsh’s third straight medal in her signature event. She earned silver as a freshman and has been sixth each of the last two years, Wednesday’s time .02 quicker than last year. And she’s done so with a growing maturity about her craft.

“I think in this sport, it doesn’t get easier. You just get more experienced,” Walsh said. “I’m a totally different swimmer than I was last year, than I was freshman year, so it’s really hard to compare my swims. I’ve been through a lot from then to now, and I’m just trying to make this swim the best I possibly could.”

Walsh has fine-tuned aspects of her race. She put her blinders on to the rest of the competitors, turning the focus inward. She was quick off the block, something she’s worked on by necessity of a 6-foot frame.

“It can be a lot more difficult because I just have so much more body mass to get off the block,” Walsh said. “I try to work on just getting my reaction times as fast as I can and I practice it over and over until I feel like it’s good enough.”

The 50 free was the only event featuring Delco girls on the opening night of competition, and the common theme for Walsh and Garnet Valley’s Noelle DiClemente was improvement. DiClemente won the B final in 23.74, nearly two-tenths quicker than her morning swim.

The junior, who was seeded 17th, tied with Wilson’s Sophia Appler as the top seed in the B final but pulled away late. DiClemente’s time was seventh-fastest in finals, but the locked format means she takes home ninth.

“I would’ve been ecstatic just to be the last person in on the B final,” she said. “I’ve always been kind of good at swimming under pressure, so I was really excited to be top seed, especially tied for top seed.”

DiClemente’s second personal best of the day helped ease the sting of the Jaguars’ 200 free relay being disqualified in prelims. Garnet had entered as the 10th seed.

“Of course we were disappointed because I love swimming with my team,” DiClemente said. “But just the fact that there were so many people that came out from my team and they were all cheering for me, it really made me go faster.”

The ups and downs offered DiClemente plenty of learning moments, something Walsh has benefitted from in a jam-packed career. And the perspective served her well again.

“I’ve learned that it’s not the end of the world if you lose,” Walsh said. “It’s not the end of the world if you gain time. Life goes on, and that’s definitely helped me relax and become more focused on having fun and spending time with my teammates and enjoying my race.”

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Collin Pettit finished 18th in the 200 free, setting a personal best of 1:43.80 and leaping from the 29th seed after barely scraping into states as an at-large. That he was the second alternate was a downer, albeit one outside of his control.

“I guess I was disappointed not being able to swim again tonight in an individual event,” the Haverford senior said. “But overall, I’ve had a pretty good day and I’m not mad about it at all.”

Instead, Pettit channeled his emotions into a stellar anchor leg to the 200 medley relay, his 21.23 split helping the Fords finish second in the B final and ninth overall in 1:35.01. The squad of Zach Given, David Abrahams, Jackson Graham and Pettit was .92 seconds faster than at the District 1 Championships. It’s a school record, downing the mark set in 2011, which at the time was the Delco record.

There’s an additive nature to Pettit’s swims this week. He started the morning with the relay, which got him revved up for the speed of the 200 free. And settling into the 200 will help him gauge speed Thursday in the 500, his stronger event in which he enters as the 17th seed.

“I found it easier to know what it was to be at my top speed and then try to hold my top speed in kind of a reserved way in the 200 free,” Pettit said. “… It’s definitely going to be a good confidence boost going into tomorrow knowing that I did two best times.”

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Two Delco swimmers joined Pettit in the dreaded alternate spots. Ridley’s Alex Boeckx clocked in at 1:57.12 in the boys 200 individual medley to take 17th place. Liz Olszewski of Strath Haven was 18th in the girls IM in 2:08.73. Olszewski was also 28th in the 100 butterfly.

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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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