THE GAZETTE
Page B-6
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 r
Blair grad aims for decades-old 200-meter IM record Hard work pays off for Columbia University rising freshman n
BY
DAN FELDMAN STAFF WRITER
BRIAN LEWIS/THE GAZETTE
Montgomery Blair High School graduate Jack Foster plans to swim for Columbia University this fall, but return next summer to swim for Glenwood in the Montgomery County Swim League.
Jack Foster is trying this week to break a record that he can’t possibly break. After swimming the 200-meter individual medley in 2:09.80 at the Coaches Long Course meet in the Montgomery County Swim League — narrowly missing the 27-year-old MCSL record of 2:09.17 that was set by a future Olympic gold medal winner, Mike Barrowman — Foster is again hoping to best Barrowman’s time at the National Club Swimming Association Summer Championships. Of course, if Foster beats the time it won’t stand as the MCSL record, because this week’s event
is not part of the now-completed MCSL schedule. Foster said he’s more concerned with the time, especially given Barrowman’s stature in the sport, than whether he officially sets the MCSL record. When he began swimming, Foster frequently lost to opponents who had been swimming year-round longer, and that experience still influences his approach. “In my swimming career, I’ve always been chasing the leader,” Foster said. “I feel like I’ve always been more concerned with my times and keeping on improving than I have with actual placement.” In the years since, Foster, a 2013 Montgomery Blair High School graduate who plans to swim for Columbia University this fall, has won more and more. Jeremy Butler, who coaches Foster at Glenwood in the MCSL, said Foster’s times last year were similar to the coach’s peak times.
“I remember watching him swim, thinking, ‘Wow I can’t believe that I ever was that fast,’” Butler said. “This summer, it’s not even close. His times are crushing my old times. I watch him just in awe.” In fact, Foster has broken many Glenwood records that were held by Butler. “It’s sort of a cliché thing to say when someone breaks your records, you say, ‘I’m happy for them. I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else,’” Butler said. “But I really do mean that. Jack is just a really good person, and he’s worked so hard for it, that it really didn’t bother me when he broke those records.” Butler said Foster goes above and beyond with the swim club, arriving early to set up for meets and helping teach younger swimmers during the week. “He’s like a superhero to them,” Butler said. Because Foster is still just 17,
he’ll be eligible to compete in the MCSL next summer, and he intends to return from New York to swim for Glenwood once again. “I definitely do want to come back, because Glenwood has been really a big family to me, and I’ve just grown up with those people, the friends,” Foster said. “I really can’t imagine a summer without them.” So, yes, Foster is more concerned with besting Barrowman’s time this week, even though that wouldn’t make him the MCSL record holder. But don’t twist Foster’s priorities. “It doesn’t mean I don’t want to come back next year and get the record,” Foster said. Said Butler: “I’ve kind of learned in the past two years to not really count him out if he says that he’s going to do something. He tends to come through.” dfeldman@gazette.net
Good Counsel graduate sets another record in his final MCSL event Good Counsel graduate says he’s eager to start college; sad youth swim league is over n
BY
KYLE RUSSELL
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
It didn’t take long for Jack Conger to get back into the pool at the Rockville Municipal Swim Center after Sunday’s Montgomery County Swim League All-Star Meet. After finishing off his final MCSL season by breaking his own league record in the 50-meter butterfly (23.94 seconds), the University of Texasbound swimmer posed for a few pictures with some young fans before getting right back into the water. “It’s bittersweet, you know, this is where it all started for me,” Conger said. “It is sad that this is done for me, but I’m also off to other things in my life now — starting off college on both
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Flower Valley’s Jack Conger won the 50-meter butterfly Sunday at the Montgomery County Swim League All-Star Meet in Rockville. The Our Lady of Good Counsel High School graduate plans to swim for the University of Texas and was swimming in his final MCSL event. an academic and athletic standpoint. So it’s tough on one side, but on the other it’s nice.”
Conger, who swims for Flower Valley, also took first in the 100-meter backstroke in 54.45 seconds. A slip at
the start cost him a chance at lowering his league record of 53.48 seconds. “The backstroke was a little annoying, just because I slipped on my start and just kind of fell in the water,” Conger said. “So it was kind of over from the start.” Other notable finishes in the 15-18 boys group included a pair of victories for Old Georgetown’s Carsten Vissering in the 100-meter individual medley (58.04) and 100-meter breaststroke (1:01.41), and Grant Goddard took the 100-meter freestyle in 51.42 seconds for Palisades. For the 15-18 girls, Catherine Mulquin set league records in both the 100-meter backstroke (1:01.80) and the 50-meter butterfly (28.53), while Mulquin’s Mill Creek Towne teammate, Caroline Clark, won the 100-meter individual medley in 1:06.00. Caroline McTaggart also bested a league record with her 57.12 second finish in the 100-meter freestyle, and Jessica Chen took first in the
100-breaststroke for host RMSC in 1:13.28. Winners for the 13-14 girls included Maddy Zurchin who won both the 100-meter individual medley (1:08.29) and 50-meter butterfly (29.25) for Lakelands, Audrey Richter won the 50-meter freestyle for Norbeck Hills in 27.73, Emily Wang took first in the 50-meter backstroke for Upper County in 31.09, and Ashley Piepol claimed the 50-meter breaststroke event for Tilden Woods in 35.77. Brandon Cu (Upper County) won a pair of events in the 13-14 boys age group, taking first in the 50-meter freestyle (25.55) and the 100-meter individual medley (1:02.59). riffin Alaniz (Connecticut Belair) also claimed two events: the 50-meter backstroke (28.26) and the 50-meter butterfly (27.05). Lake Marion’s Kenneth Afolabi-Brown won the 50-meter breaststroke.
Germantown rider earns silver after serious fall a few weeks earlier Hilary Moore Hebert earns U.S. Dressage Federation silver medal after paralysis scare n
BY JENNIFER BEEKMAN STAFF WRITER
It was a freak accident. Germantown resident Hilary Moore Hebert, 32, was dismounting during an equestrian competition in mid-May — she was going for the final score needed to achieve her U.S. Dressage Federation Silver Medal — when her horse, Limelight, took a step at the worst possible time. Already out of the saddle, Moore Hebert fell backwards about seven feet to the ground and landed directly on her lower back. She said her mind went to the worst possible scenario. “[Being paralyzed] was the first thing that went through my mind. The pain was so bad when I fell and it was all in the hip area, I could not feel part of my right leg. I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk again,” Moore Hebert said. Moore Hebert suffered a
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bruised L2 vertebra — located near the lower curvature of the spine, according to Healthline. com. Injuries to that area can cause nerve damage, loss of feeling in the lower extremities and difficulty moving or walking. The nerve damage was only temporary. On July 6, after a six-week hiatus, Moore Hebert earned that silver medal with her performance at the Potomac Valley Dressage Association Summer Showdown and Adult Team Championships at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center. Riders earn this prestigious award by achieving required scores in two tests at the Fourth level and two tests at the Prix St. Georges level. The latter is the first level of international competition and is one of the tests ridden at the Pan-American Games. It took Moore Hebert one year to do what some people spend their lives working toward but never achieve, said Janna Dyer, a USDF Gold Medalist (Olympic level) and Moore Hebert’s trainer at her Dark Horse Dressage facility in Rocky Ridge. Her remarkably quick rise is a tes-
tament to her commitment, work ethic and willingness to immediately incorporate any instructions given to her, Dyer said. Overall, Moore Hebert has been competing for 13 years. Overcoming the final obstacle for the silver medal was even more impressive given Moore Hebert’s injury, Dyer said. “[When something like that happens] you have to decide if you’re ever going to [ride or compete] again and if you are, you have to not think about it and control your nerves. You cannot convey your nervousness to the horse because if [Moore Hebert] is nervous, the horse is going to think, ‘Oh, what’s wrong?’ Body language is all a horse can actually read so you have to get on and separate your mind from your body,” Dyer said. Moore Hebert said she was in fact more nervous before that first ride back in competition than anything she’s done before. But her relationship with Limelight, any rider’s connection with her horse, is integral to her success. They must trust in each other, Moore Hebert said.