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 (Photoby Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Sparked by Rossi's Love of Competition, PHS Girls' Swim Team 2nd at Counties
By Bill Alden
It was the annual pressure cooker atmosphere at the Mercer County Swimming Championships last Saturday at Lawrence High.
The pool complex was packed with swimmers and fans and the constant din of encouraging shouts drowned out the starting guns and splashing of competition.
All around the deck, which was heated to sauna-like conditions, intent coaches huddled with nervous swimmers, figuring out how to shave off valuable seconds from race times.
Amid the tension, Princeton High junior star Nina Rossi walked around the deck as if she were enjoying a summer afternoon at the Community Park pool.
The affable Rossi traded hugs and jokes with teammates and competitors alike. She smilingly greeted opposing coaches and winked at race officials as she made her way around the pool.
Once in the starting blocks, however, the prolific Rossi was all business. She took two individual titles, winning the 200-meter individual medley in a meet-record time of 2:22.00 and the 100 butterfly in 1:04.65.
In her last swim of the day, the 400 free relay, Rossi hit the water for the anchor leg finding her team trailing Pennington by nearly half the pool. The powerful Rossi proceeded to produce a furious effort to near the gap to a body length as PHS got edged in the race.
Rossi's efforts earned her the recognition as the county meet's top girl swimmer for the third straight year and helped spark PHS to a second-finish in the team standings as it totaled 191 points, trailing only WW/P-S with 224.
As she reflected on her sparkling effort, Rossi acknowledged that she thrives on competition. "I love competition, I love swimming in meets," said the bubbly Rossi with a laugh. "If I win, if I lose, whatever happens. I try my best. It's been that way since I started."
Rossi did acknowledge her satisfaction at again being named the meet's top female swimmer. "It's awesome, I'm glad I won it again," asserted Rossi. "I try not to feel pressure."
Rossi was happier with the team's performance than with any of her individual accolades. "The team has just gone crazy," said Rossi. "We never thought we'd be like that. Last year, I think we were fourth. Going up two places is great."
PHS coach Greg Hand took pride in the progress made by his girls' squad. "I like the expression 'everybody showed up today,'" said Hand, who got terrific efforts from Martha Ferguson, the second-place finisher in the 100 breaststroke, and freshman star Kathleen Morrison, who took fifth in the 200 free and third in the 500 free.
"They worked their way through the preliminaries pretty nicely but I thought they had it just right today. They were really on fire, everybody competed well."
Of course, nobody was hotter for PHS on Saturday than Rossi. "I think she deserves it," said Hand, referring to Rossi getting the nod as the meet's top female performer.
"In the IM, she beat her previous record by two one-hundredths and last year she broke it by one one-hundredth. She competed terrifically."
With Rossi leading the charge, Hand believes his team will compete terrifically in the upcoming state Public B tournament.
"We're going to be tested, no doubt," said Hand, who guided his team to a stunning second place finish in last year's tournament. "The girls will compete. From the scouting we've done, we know they are going to have to swim our best times."
Rossi, for one, believes the team is up for the challenge. "We're ready for states, we're in the middle of our taper," added Rossi. "We're ready for it. We're ready to take on anything that's in our way."
The superstar junior has her sights set on making her way to the ultimate swimming competition.
"Ever since I started swimming, I want to be at the top of things," explained Rossi, who has just started the college recruiting process and is leaning toward heading to one of the sports' southern powers. "I want to go to the Olympics, I really do. It's a goal, it's high up there. It might take a while but I've always wanted to do it." With Rossi's talent and love of competition, there's no telling how far she can go.
