MCSL All-Stars smash more records

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

MCSL All-Stars smash more records

by Jennifer Beekman | Staff Writer

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Brady Fox could only sit idly by Sunday as Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club teammate Eric Friedland broke the record Fox set just last week. But Fox didn’t mope; the rising Georgetown Prep senior set two Montgomery County Swim League records himself.

‘‘It actually helps motivate you,” Fox said. ‘‘I was really happy when Eric broke my record. He went really fast. There’s no grudge held; just makes me want to go faster next time.”

Both stood out at MCSL divisionals last week, and did so again in Rockville Sunday, at the MCSL Individual All-Star Meet.

Friedland, a recent Walter Johnson graduate, dropped 1.86 seconds from his seed time to break the Boys 15-18 100-meter individual medley record Fox set at divisionals. Fox, the defending Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming Championship in two events, established new standards in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Representing Hallowell Swim Club, Fox also saw what would have been a record-breaking 100 butterfly time wiped out by a false start. University of Texas-bound Friedland, swimming for Tilden Woods, set a second MCSL record in the 100 breaststroke.

Recent Wootton graduate and University of Maryland-bound Sean Stewart won the 100 butterfly and finished second in the 100 freestyle and 100 individual medley.

‘‘Eric, Sean and I have been talking about this meet for a long time, probably since last summer’s All-Star meet,” Fox said. ‘‘We’ve been talking about the showdown between the three of us in the 100 freestyle. ... We definitely all have friendly rivalries going on. But they’re only friendly.”

Sunday’s meet featured the league’s top 16 swimmers in each age group — U-8, U-12, 13-14 and 15-18 — and each event. Swimmers qualified by achieving top times throughout the MCSL’s seven-week season.

And since the Washington area is rife with some of the country’s best swimming talent — Friedland, Stewart, Fox and Rockville’s Cara Chuang competed at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials last month — Sunday’s meet featured a high level of competition.

Chuang, a rising Poolesville High junior, set an MCSL record in the Girls 15-18 100 IM Sunday. She also finished first in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke events.

MCSL does not provide Friedland, Stewart, Fox and Chuang, among others, the same intense competitive atmosphere as some of the bigger national and international events they’ve competed in. But the league is where most of their swimming careers were cultivated.

‘‘I probably wouldn’t be swimming if it wasn’t for MCSL,” Stewart said. ‘‘That’s why it’s so important to me to come back each year. And personally, I think it’s a little more exciting than most U.S. Swimming events. Most of the people here, the crowd, you know everyone. ...

‘‘And they’re cheering for you and you cheer for your team. It’s fun. And it can prepare you for the bigger meets. I love my team and I love swimming MCSL.”

Notes: Callie Fosburgh (Bannockburn, Girls 13-14 100 IM), Lila Vera (Stonebridge, Girls 11-12 50 backstroke), Robert Quian (Germantown, Boys 8-under 25 breaststroke) and Harrison Gu (Rockville, Boys 11-12 50 breaststroke) also broke MCSL records Sunday.