I have not been around as long as some veteran swim coaches in this state, but I’m no spring chicken either, having covered high school swimming since 1991 and the New Jersey swim scene for The Star-Ledger since 1999.
So when Old Tappan sophomore Gabby Baratta won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.95 at the Bergen County Meet of Champions on Sunday, it was a stunning revelation.
At least, it was stunning for me because never in my career have I seen a seventh seed win a county title. This seventh seed not only stole the race out of Lane 1 (in an eight-lane pool), she broke the meet record, AND defeated the defending champion and former record holder, Ramsey’s Heather Wong, who finished second in 1:07.15. Wong’s record from last year was 1:06.67.
And what’s more, Baratta won the race nearly a full five seconds faster than her seed time (1:10.82). So Gabby, what gives?
“I was shocked,†Baratta said. “I knew it was going to be a pretty close race, but I wasn’t expecting to win. I just wanted to try really hard. I did want to win, but I knew all of them in the race and they’re all extremely fast.â€
And what about the meet record, five seconds faster than your seed time?
“I just wanted to go for it and see what happens,†Baratta said. “My seed time came from high school meet, so I didn’t get a chance to swim the breast as much as I’d like to, but it was a dramatic drop.â€
Dramatic, indeed. One observer who was not surprised was Old Tappan coach Ken Driscoll.
“If you look at her history she was ready to do that time,†Driscoll said. “She was ready to break out. She went 1:07 a year ago, and she did a 1:06 a year ago, sometime between the (Bergen M of C) and a club meet. The stars aligned for sure, but it was not too much of a surprise for us. I told her it was an inspiring thing to see.â€
Perhaps Baratta has more surprises in store for us. You can catch her in action again at the Big North Conference Patriot Division meet on Thursday, which begins at 5 p.m. at Hackensack.