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PIAA Swimming Championships
Friday-Saturday
McCoy Natarorium,
Penn State University
LABEL: HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING
WILKES-BARRE – The thought of losing does not frighten Caroline Byron.
That may be one of the greatest assets for the Bishop Hoban junior heading into the PIAA Class 2A Swimming Championships.
“I would so much rather come in second in a race and have tough competition and know that I’ve worked my hardest, than win a race by a lot knowing that I could have gone faster,” Byron said. “I like having good races.”
Byron figures to have plenty of those this weekend during the state meet, set for the McCoy Natatorium on Penn State’s main campus.
She is the top seed for the 50-yard freestyle on Friday, and the 100 freestyle on Saturday.
She is also part of two Hoban relay teams that are seeded in the top three. Byron, senior Julie McLaughlin and juniors Kelly Dessoye and Bryn Mesko are the third seed in the 200 freestyle relay, which will be held Friday. Byron, McLaughlin, Mesko and junior Julie Grilz are the second seed in the 400 freestyle relay, which will conclude competition on Saturday.
“Caroline loves a challenge,” Hoban girls swim coach Mara Pawlenok said. “It’s not going to be easy for her, because there are some great kids out there, but she’s the real deal.”
Byron is seeking to win four state medals for top-six finishes for the second consecutive year. Last year she won gold as part of Hoban’s 200 freestyle relay team, silver in the 50 freestyle and as part of the 400 freestyle relay, and bronze in the 100 freestyle.
It continued a tradition of excellence established by her older sister Liz, who was a senior when Caroline was a freshman.
“Caroline was up in the stands watching Liz the first three years and they were together on the deck when Liz was a senior,” Pawlenok said. “For Caroline, that’s the way it was done, you went to states and you made finals. That’s the way the Byrons do it.”
The only award missing from their trophy case is a gold medal from an individual event. The Hoban girls have had relay teams win at the state meet. The closest they’ve come in individual events were Liz and Caroline Byron, who both won silver at states.
However, winning gold didn’t preoccupy Liz, now a sophomore at Boston College, nor is that the case with Caroline. If she swims her fastest, she will be happy no matter what medal she gets.
“I’ve learned now that going down calm and confident is a lot better than worrying about the ‘what ifs?”‘ she said. “I pay attention to my competitors’ times and what they’ve done in the past. I don’t get wrapped up in it.”
Byron’s seed times are 23.52 seconds for the 50 freestyle and 51.47 in the 100 freestyle. Both were records at the District 2 Class 2A championship meet.
Her top challenger in both events is Blue Mountain sophomore Lindsay Guers, who enters the 50 freestyle with a seed time of 23.97 and the 100 freestyle at 52.55.
Byron and Guers have been swimming against one another for years in age-group meets. At last year’s state meet, Byron was fractions faster than Guers in the two races.
“I’m going to look at last year’s states, see where my weak points were and try to improve on them,” Byron said. “I’m going to use that to my advantage.”
The other edge she hopes to gain is a mental one.
“Swimming is so much more mental than it is physical,” Byron said. “Once you reach the end of the season, it’s not physical, because you’ve worked hard all season. It’s telling yourself that you can win the race and pushing yourself beyond what you have done before.”
TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO/PETE G. WILCOX
Bishop Hoban junior Caroline Byron is the top seed in the 50 and 100 freestyle at this weekend’s PIAA Class 2A state championship meet.