HAPPY ENDING: Princeton High girls’ swimming star Madeleine Deardorff displays her butterfly form in a race last season. Senior star Deardorff ended her PHS career on a high note earlier this month, combining with classmate Brianna Romaine, junior Melinda Tang, and sophomore Abbey Berloco to win the 400 freestyle relay at the Meet of Champions. The quartet clocked a time of 3:28.60 in winning the event, just .28 seconds short of the meet record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though it was the last swim of her Princeton High career, Madeleine Deardorff didn’t let emotions get the best of her as she stood in the blocks for the second leg of the 400 freestyle relay final last month at the Meet of Champions.

“I just wanted to empty my mind of everything and swim as fast as I could,” recalled Deardorff. “I think that is what we all did.”

The quartet of seniors
Brianna Romaine, junior Melinda Tang, sophomore Abbey Berloco, and Deardorff proved to be the fastest relay in the state, winning the race in a time of 3:28.60, just .28 seconds short of the meet record.

“It was exciting for all of us, especially because Brianna and I knew it was our last relay with Abbey and Melinda,” said Deardorff.

“It was kind of emotional. I think the fact that we came so close to Hillsborough’s record was special. We were seeded third going into it; that was with our fastest time that we had swum this season but last year at MOC we had a 3:29. It was good to get down to a 3:28 in this meet. It would have been nice to get that state record in the 400 free relay but we got our best time. You can’t really ask for more.”

A highlight of Deardorff’s final campaign came when PHS added to its nice run at the Mercer County Swimming Championships, winning a fourth straight county crown.

“It meant a lot to us, especially because it was my last year,” said Deardorff, reflecting on the team title.

“I think it felt great because when I was a freshman, it was the first time we had won in a while and now it has been four straight titles after South (WW/P-S) had that really great run for a while. It felt really great to be able to keep coming and winning with new swimmers every year, having people leave and still being able to provide the depth and win.”

Deardorff enjoyed some great individual swims at the county meet, winning the 100 butterfly and taking second in the 200 individual medley.

“I think it is really awesome how we can switch around events and still do well points wise,” said Deardorff.

“It is really special and not a lot of teams can say that. The fact that last year I did the 400 free and the IM and now I did the 100 fly and Melinda and Brianna switched events makes it really nice to have some variety.”

PHS ran into an incredible team in the state tournament, falling 97-73 to top-seeded and defending state champion Scotch Plains-Fanwood in the semifinals of the North 2, Group B sectionals for its only dual meet loss in a 13-1 campaign.

“We knew going into it that Scotch Plains had insane depth,” said Deardorff. “It is almost impossible to match but I think we went into it levelheaded, looking to swim our fastest. I think we all swam pretty fast. When they have however many club swimmers that they have who all swim together on their club team too, it is hard to match.”

For Deardorff, it will be hard to match her PHS experience as she followed in the footsteps of older siblings, Peter and Serena, who both starred for the Little Tigers and went on to swim in college at Bowdoin College and Amherst College, respectively.

“It was exciting, the whole thing flew by for me honestly,” said Deardorff. “I remember when my brother started swimming when he was a freshman and that is when I started going to the high school meets so that was like nine years ago. It has been a while.”

Like her brother and sister, Deardorff will be competing for a while longer as she will be attending Williams College and joining its women’s swimming program.

“I went on recruiting trips to Amherst, Georgetown, and Williams, and in the end, something just clicked with Williams,” said Deardorff.

“Academically, it is great. I like the fact that they are so high up in the Division III. It is not as stressful to think about the fact that I will never make NCAAs for Division 1 because it is like Olympians. D-III is really competitive at the highest level so I am excited.”