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Double Golds for Swimmers
Chamberland and Titianu don't give an inch at State!
St Mary’s had the distinct honor of being represented at the State Championship swim meet by Bri Chamberland and Alex Titianu. The two of them entered the weekend as the #1 seeded swimmer in each of their events: Bri in the 50 freestyle & 100 breaststroke, Alex in the 100 butterfly & 100 backstroke.
While Bri moved into the finals maintaining her top positions, Alex did so only in the backstroke. The preliminary heats of the butterfly found him seeded 3rd after a less-than-best performance. But that was only day one.
Bri led off the day two finals with the 50 free, which is always a nerve racking race. A poor start, a slipped turn, or any number of other mishaps can move you from 1st to 4th before you know it. Bri fell prey to none of those, out-touching all others to win the event in 24.39.
Alex followed her a few races later in the butterfly, and faced his biggest challenge of the weekend. Having saved a little the day before, he came off the blocks quickly and swam side-by-side with Newport junior, Jahan Eibner. The two came off the final turn dead even, but Alex’s strong underwater work gained him a slight edge by mid-pool. He carried that lead to the finish, improving on his school record with a time of 52.52.
An hour later, the two of them were lined up to head to the starting blocks once again. This time it was Alex’s turn to go first in the backstroke, with Bri to follow in breaststroke the very next race. The pair turned their back-to-back swims into back-to-back wins, and doubled up on their state title counts.
Both won their late races in more comfortable fashion (Bri by 1.5 seconds, and Alex by nearly 4 seconds). Once again, it was Alex’s strength under the water that made him no match for the others, winning in a time of 55.74. Bri then shocked herself, and a number of others around the pool, with her breaststroke swim. Not because of the win, or the personal best, or the new school record. It was the realization of posting a USA Swimming 18 & under “Futures” qualifying time of 1:05.39 that had her smiling in disbelief. For those not familiar with the world of swim, moving up beyond Futures means National Championship and Olympic swims.
A big congrats to both Bri and Alex (and the entire St. Mary’s swim team) on a fantastic season, amazing swims, and a pair of state championship medals for each of them.
