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by James Johnson
Buffalo - The preliminaries of the girls swimming and diving state
championships did not turn out how Jenny Chiang had hoped.
While Chiang was the diver to beat before the meet, the Fairport senior
found herself in second, and had a good idea why. She was out of character.
"After the semifinals I was really nervous," Chiang said. "(Valley
Central's) Nicole (Borriello) dove well, but really I was kind of
disappointed with how I dove."
Chiang regrouped on Saturday, went on to win the one-meter competition and
joined Rush-Henrietta senior Mallory Morrell as an individual state champion
at Erie Community College.
Canandaigua's 200-yard freestyle relay of Julia Messina, Brittney Kuras,
Paula Bentley and Heather Savage swam their race in 1 minute, 37.32 seconds,
an All-America time, to take the top spot on that awards podium.
Chiang, who won four Section V Class A titles, finished with a score of
504.35. She was the state runner-up last year.
"Yeah it feels good," the Notre Dame recruit said. "It is something that I
really have been looking forward to. After (last year's state champion)
graduated, I was like, 'Well, hopefully it's my turn.'
"My coaches told me to just forget about yesterday. I don't really get
nervous before I dive, but I wasn't really having fun during preliminaries.
When I'm laughing, talking and stuff, I'm having fun. If I'm not, I over
think about my dives and it drives me nuts."
Chiang's final dive was her best, as she distanced herself from Borriello
(469.65) and Long Beach junior Kim Harris (463.55).
"She scored a 71.4 and that closed it," Penfield assistant coach Bob
Schlegel said. "The whole place went 'whoa!'
"Dave Salmon (Fairport's diving coach) jumped about 10 feet off the ground."
Morrell nearly went "crazy" during the 50 freestyle final.
The New Hampshire-bound state champion, who was told by older teammates that
she was "crazy fast" as an eighth-grader, finished in 23.45 seconds, two
one-hundredths of a second (.02) off the Section V record set in 2000 by
former Webster standout and state champion Kara Lynn Joyce.
"I tapered just for this meet," Morrell said before she later finished
fourth in the 100 freestyle. "I was hoping for something better this year.
Last year, I finished sixth, eighth or something like that. I knew I was
faster than some of the people who beat me. I was so mad. I felt like
throwing the medal into the pool."
Savage, who is headed to Clemson, was the runner-up to Morrell in the 50
freestyle with an All-America time of 23.73. She smiled while being
presented her first medal by her father Henry, the Section V girls swimming
coordinator.
"It's fun having him on deck," Heather Savage said. "He gets into it.
Absolutely, (I was pleased). That was my best time. I was fourth after
preliminaries. Mallory had a great race."
Savage later finished third in the 100 butterfly with an All-America time of
55.73.
"We made up a lot of points," Pittsford coach Marty Keating said before the
announcement that Section V finished second in sectional scoring. "What
happens is, at sectionals, you're fighting for second or third, or trying to
get into the top 20. Your teammates, mom and dad, some of the swimmers from
the boys team and some schoolmates are all cheering for you.
"You come here and a lot of teams have just one or two girls from a team.
It's a totally different atmosphere. We have a lot of first-timers. There
are some who are like deer looking into headlights."
Chiang will have no part of that, if she can help it.
"As long as you are having fun that's all that matters," she said.
Fairport coach Mike Kennedy said that Chiang will go out of her way to
settle down others around her, whether it's during a practice or at a meet.
"You have people at her level that have their own agendas," Kennedy said.
"They do what they need to do and that's it.
"She takes a step back and helps out her teammates. She even does that with
her competition. She's just a good kid. She swims for us (too), takes care
of her student responsibilities, good values, just a good kid."
Originally published in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Photos by Kris J. Murante
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