BREAKING FREE: Princeton High girls’ swimmer Annie Flanagan competes in a freestyle race in a meet earlier this season. Last Thursday, sophomore Flanagan placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 back to help PHS defeat Hopewell Valley 132-38. The Tigers, now 5-0, will look to keep on the winning track when they face Notre Dame at The College of New Jersey on January 3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Joining the Princeton High girls’ swim team last winter, Annie Flanagan was a bit apprehensive about how things would go.

“I was definitely really nervous coming in, being a freshman,” said Flanagan.

Overcoming her nerves, Flanagan ended up thriving in the team environment, emerging as a key performer for a PHS squad that went 14-0 on the way to winning the Mercer County championship meet and New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group B state title.

“I think last year, I improved so much because of high school swimming,” said Flanagan, who competes for the Eastern Express program outside of PHS.

“I have never enjoyed swimming so much; everyone else on this team is spread out in PTAC, X-Cel, and all of these different club teams. It is fun to race with them because you are always competing against them on different teams.”
Competing for PHS helped Flanagan produce some of her best swims.

“It is so much more fun because you are not just competing for yourself,” said Flanagan. “You just want to place and help the team. It is not about yourself. That is why like last year, everyone got their best times because everyone wasn’t thinking about themselves, they were just trying to help out the team.”

Last Thursday as PHS hosted Hopewell Valley, Flanagan helped the Tigers post a 132-38 win, taking first in both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke and swimming a leg for the victorious 400 free relay team as the Tigers moved to 5-0.

In the 200 free, Flanagan battled PHS senior star Kyleigh Tangen as they went 1-2 with Flanagan coming at 1:58.16 and Tangen just behind in 2:00.16.

“It is definitely a challenging race but it was a lot of fun,” said Flanagan. “Kyleigh is amazing, it was good. It was a lot of fun having two teams here, it was a packed house.”

In winning the 100 back, Flanagan was pushed by teammates Sabine Ristad and Jesse Wang.

“I was really tired; Sabine and Jesse are two amazing backstrokers so I was definitely a little nervous going into that,” said Flangan. “We want each other to do the best that we can. We were trying to go 1-2-3, and that is what we did. It was a fun race swimming with them.”

Finishing the day with the 400 free relay, Flanagan had to push through some fatigue.

“It is definitely a hard race, everyone is very tired but is a great way to end the meet,” said Flanagan. “Relays are so much fun, everyone get so hyped.”

In Flanagan’s view, the Tigers hype each other up to do their best.

“Everyone here is so committed to high school and enjoys it so much,” said Flanagan. “What makes our team so good is that everyone comes and has fun together and feeds off of each other. It is a really great environment.”

PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz enjoyed seeing her team compete against HoVal.

“Hopewell is always one of those really good teams, they are always going to bring it,” said Misiewicz. “They have got club swimmers as well, they have got depth. They always give us a really, really good competitive meet.”

Misiewicz credited Flanagan with giving the Tigers some really good efforts in the win over the Bulldogs.

“She had two really nice swims, 1:58 in the 200 free today, she was 2:00 two days ago (in a 131-39 win over WW/P-North),” said Misiewicz of Flanagan. “Her 100 back was 1:01, right around there. I think the three of them all pushed each other. She is another versatile swimmer for us — she could do the 200 free, the 100 free, the 50 free, and the 100 back; even the 200 IM is something that she is good at.”

Having enjoyed a successful freshman season, Flanagan has brought an upbeat approach into this winter.

“Annie and I had a couple of conversations last year and she was nervous about high school swimming, not really sure what to expect,” said Misiewicz. “She had so much fun that this year — she said she was so excited to start the season. Something that she said was that high school swimming allows her to just focus on swimming fast and doing things for the team. Where club is more, ‘OK, I want to go to sectionals, I want to go to junior nationals’; it is much more time-based. In high school, you are not worried about time, just beating the girl next to you.”

Misiewicz likes the swims she got from her girls against HoVal throughout the lineup.

“Kyleigh’s 200 free and her 100 free; she is someone who is always consistent for us, she always gets in and races,” said Misiewicz. “Sabine and Courtney Weber’s 500 free, Courtney and Nia Zagar’s 100 breast, all of those swims really across the board were good. It is just seeing how much faster everyone has gotten in the last six to eight months with that core group of juniors and seniors that we have with us.”

Looking ahead, Misiewicz is confident that her swimmers will keep getting faster and faster as the season unfolds.

“We swam a really good meet against WW/P-North the other day, they gave us another good meet as usual,” said Misiewicz, whose team is next in action when it faces Notre Dame at The College of New Jersey on January 3.

“Now the focus is training hard through winter break. Then we come in the New Year and start off with Notre Dame and South, so no time off.”

In Flanagan’s view, the Tigers are primed to do well when they get into the 2024 portion of their schedule.

“I think the team is in a great place,” said Flanagan. “We did really well last year. We are trying to do the best that we can, everyone is training really hard right now. Everyone is looking pretty good. We are all super excited for counties and the rest of the season.”