By Alex Frazier
National Conference
Meet…Matt ChrzanowskiPennsbury coach John Wilson is avoiding the “S” word.
“S” as in sick.
Last year his team captain Matt Chrzanowski came down sick two days before districts and missed qualifying for states, which he had done the year before in the 100 backstroke.
“It was not a good time,” he said, “so it’s been my goal this season to get back in shape and get back to states again.”
Chrzanowski is the best sprinter on the team and had a big part in the Falcons’ conference championship last year and hopefully again this year if everything goes according to the script Friday in the National Conference meet at Council Rock North. Pennsbury enters the meet undefeated in the league.
“We really want to repeat this year,” said Chrzanowski, who also anchors all the relays.
“He has certainly made the relays come to life,” said Wilson.
It would also be a feather in his cap to be captain of two league championship teams.
“It’s fun being a leader,” Chrzanowski said. “It’s a little stressful at times, but in the end it’s worth it. It’s been the most fun time winning the league the past two years.”
“It’s hard for him not to lead,” said Wilson. “He’s funny, he’s open, he’s a leader in the pool swimming-wise; therefore it works.”
Chrzanowski holds the Council Rock pool record in the 50 freestyle, which he will swim for the last time Friday. He’s hoping to go even faster so he can break his own team’s record as well as lower the mark at Rock.
“I’m pretty close,” he said
Chrzanowski has been swimming since he was seven. After going to several of his cousins’ meets, he decided to try it himself.
“I wanted to become a swimmer just like my cousins,” he said.
At nine he began swimming year ‘round, and by 12 he had given up soccer and baseball to focus on swimming.
“I realized that was where I was most comfortable and did my best,” he said.
Next year Chrzanowski will attend either William and Mary or Lehigh where he will continue swimming and major in pre-med. He wants to become an orthopedic surgeon.
And he has a lot of experience in that field, having fractured numerous parts of his body over the years.
“Being around them so much when I was younger, they seemed happy with what they were doing, and I was generally interested in medicine at that time,” he explained.
Chryzanowski will swim the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle at districts. Although he did swim backstroke at states as a sophomore, he and Wilson decided that his times weren’t consistent enough in that event.
“Right now my 100 free and fly times are both competitive in the state, and I’m more confident I’ll be able to make states with the times I have,” he said.
Continental Conference
Meet…Lauren Ahrens
Lauren Ahrens is Central Bucks South’s most versatile swimmer.
Her specialty is the 200 individual medley. Last year, after missing states by .04 of a second as a freshman, she finished 16th in the PIAA meet.
She got into the IM when she was younger because she liked the idea of swimming different strokes in a race.“I like just trying different strokes so I don’t have to rely on one stroke,” she said. “And it keeps it interesting too. It’s not just like I’m doing the same event every single meet.”
In order to improve her strokes, Ahrens has focused on a different event every year. As a freshman it was the breaststroke and the individual medley. Last year she switched to the backstroke and IM, and this year she has focused on the 100 freestyle.
“It’s hard sometimes practicing each one,” she said. “And sometimes I wish I had my own specialty in a stroke instead of being an IMer, so I could focus on one, but it keeps it interesting.”
If anything, the backstroke is her strong suit in individual strokes.
“That’s what I rely most on to make up time,” she said.
This year coach Kevin Murray made it a point to swim her in every individual event, and she responded by making the district cut in each one.
“I wanted to challenge her to push all her strokes to help her have a better IM,” said Murray. “It’s pretty impressive. A lot of times kids qualify in four or five events, but not everyone.”
“I set goals throughout the season,” said Ahrens. “That was definitely my in-season goal.”
She found the 50 freestyle the hardest. It took her to the second to last meet to qualify.
At the other end of the spectrum, she made the cut in the 500 free in the last meet of the season.
“I knew the 50 would be harder for me, so I saved the 500 for last,” she said.
Ahrens is not only versatile but also reliable. Murray knows if he puts her in an event where he needs points, she’ll get them.
“She accepts the challenge and she’ll get up and race whoever it is,” he said. “Knowing that it’s for the team to win, she’ll do it.”
As a captain, Ahrens is also a team leader.
“She’s been an excellent captain,” said Murray. “She’s led by example in the water and out of the water, always cheering for her teammates when she’s not racing, making sure things get cleaned up when they have to and making sure the team has a meeting when they need to get things set straight during a meet. She’s pretty much done everything a coach would hope for a captain to do.”
Ahrens is hoping that she can move up at states this year. With a year under her belt at Bucknell, she should, though districts last year wasn’t her best meet.
“I was actually upset at my districts,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make states. I was about the same time as Suburbans. Districts is always a nerve-racking meet for me. Hopefully this year it will be better.”
She knows she will be swimming the IM at districts but isn’t sure yet whether she will also go in the backstroke or the 100 free.
“She still has to make a decision after champs, and we’ll go from there,” said Murray.
Ahrens definitely wants to swim in college, though she hasn’t given much thought yet as to where. Meanwhile, she may take up softball again this spring after giving it up in ninth grade.
“We’ll see how that goes,” she said. “It depends on how long my season carries out, but I’m excited for that.”
American Conference
Meet…Carolyn Meier
Since a soccer injury sidelined her for a few weeks last spring, Upper Dublin’s Carolyn Meier has been training hard.
And this is the time of the year she hopes it will all pay off.
Last year as a freshman, she went to states as a member of both the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams. This year she’s hoping to make it in an individual event.
She will have several to choose from as she qualified for districts in every event except breaststroke.
“That was exciting for me,” she said. “It was in the back of my mind, especially if I was swimming events that weren’t typically mine.”
“She’s definitely been having a stellar year,” said Upper Dublin coach Brian Palme. “She can pretty much swim anything you put her in. She’s a solid relay contributor. She’s a clutch swimmer. She can come through at any point in a race. You can always count on her being there in crunch time.”
Meier admits that soccer is her first love, but that she is better at swimming.
“It’s my favorite sport I think because I’ve been playing it the longest,” she said.
She also doesn’t get as nervous because it’s team sport.
“Playing soccer is a lot of fun,” she said. “Swimming I like also. You have your individuals but you also have your relay. Relays are less nerve-racking.”
She started soccer when she was five and swimming when she was eight.
In the final soccer game last spring she suffered a deep bone bruise that required physical therapy. It kept her out of swimming for a couple of weeks, but ironically enough, the water helped her in her rehab, and she’s been going strong ever since.
With districts just two weeks off, Meier is hoping to do well enough to make states in an individual event.
“It’s a goal of mine to go to states individually this year,” she said. “If I keep working hard, hopefully that will happen.”
She will have to drop time to make the cut.
“I’m not really, really close, but maybe I would have a chance once I’m tapered and everything goes well,” she said. “I’m hoping to go really fast and drop some time.”
“She’s been training since last spring,” said Palme. “This part of the year is hopefully where she will see that hard work and dedication to the sport and herself come to fruition.”
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