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Blazing times small consolation to Perks
Caitlin Perks dipped her head under water, touched the wall and turned for home. The Fauquier senior would not completely pop back up again until after the final leg of the 100-yard freestyle, holding her breath the entire time to avoid any type of slowdown.
When she emerged again, straining for air, Perks had broken her own state record time of 51.26 second — set just a day earlier at Virginia’s Group AAA preliminaries.
But in the lane next to her, Robinson High’s Amanda Kendall had also topped that mark, and had done so slightly faster. Kendall clocked in 50.76. Perks finished at 50.95, just an arm’s length away from victory.
Instead, Perks had her second heartbreaking loss at Saturday’s state final hosted at George Mason University in Fairfax. A similar story played out earlier, when Perks topped the prior state record in the 200-yard freestyle, only to see First Colonial High’s Becca Jones eke past her.
“I’m really happy with my times but I’m not satisfied because…” Perks said after the 100 free, pausing to hold up a pair of fingers on her right hand, “…number two.”
The battle between Perks and Kendall turned into one of the day’s more thrilling showdowns. Kendall entered the weekend as the two-time defending state champ in the 100 free and held the standing state record time.
Perks’ Friday swim leapfrogged her over Kendall in the record books and planted the FHS star as the No. 1 seed heading into Saturday’s final.
Both swimmers stormed from the block, running neck-and-neck the entire way. At the 50-yard mark, Kendall held a very slight lead of 24.70 seconds to 24.73. She extended that cushion slightly over the third 25-yard stretch, setting herself up for a dramatic closing push.
“I wanted to take it out fast, and I knew I had to come home strong,” Kendall said. “I saw her right next to me, and I knew those last few strokes counted.”
Despite nipping right at Kendall’s heels the entire race, Perks could never completely close the gap.
The result was an impressive swim, but a disheartening result.
“Going into the wall, I was like ‘We’ve got this,’” Perks said of the race’s final turn. “I felt pretty good, but I started feeling my 200 in my legs toward the end of it. I bet I could have gone out a little faster.”
That 200 race took place about an hour prior to the 100 final. Perks qualified as the No. 2 seed there, behind Jones.
Just as Kendall and Perks would do later, Jones and Perks quickly shot to the front of the pack. Perks clocked in at 26.09 seconds after 50 yards, but her 54.02 100-yard split placed her a half-second back of Jones.
The gap would further widen over the final 100, with Jones smashing her own previous state record time of 1 minute, 50.18 seconds. On Saturday, Jones recorded a time of 1:48.45, comfortably ahead of Perks’ 1:49.99.
“It’s frustrating, because I looked up at my time and thought, ‘Wow, 1:49,’” Perks said. “And then it’s ‘Becca what did you go? 1:48? Are you kidding me?’”
Jones later won the 500-yard freestyle as well.
Walking off the pool deck after both her races, Perks received hearty congratulations on stellar swims from numerous competitors and coaches.
Still, some irritation lingered well after her day was complete.
“I actually did go my best times and for unshaved, untapered, that’s amazing for me to go those times,” Perks said. “It’s icing on the cake to get first place, and it would have been nice.”
Perks, who won a state title in Group AA as a freshman in the 200 free, competed sans shaving and tapering due to her continuing training with the QDD Swim Team in Manassas.
Her commitment there, and the upcoming Junior Nationals in March, buoyed her spirits. Perks stressed that, while she would have welcomed victory on Saturday, the U.S. competitions are where she truly hopes to shine.
The dramatic loss to Kendall simply added fuel to Perks’ fire for the coming weeks.
“I’ll get her at the next meet, I know I will,” Perks guaranteed after the finals in regard to Kendall. “I’m really excited for junior nationals in Florida, I want to rock that now.”
Even though she’ll enter that meet without the title of “State Champion,” Perks put on an impressive display in Fairfax as her times granted her automatic All-America qualification in both the 100 and 200.
Counting Friday’s preliminary show, Perks topped standing state record times in three of her four swims. Saturday’s results were less than ideal, but Perks’ can feel good she held the 100-yard state mark stood for almost 24 hours.
“I didn’t know until one of the parents came up to me and said, ‘You broke the state record,’” Perks recalled. “That was really exciting to hold it, even though it was just for a little.”
FHS coach Mary Chrisinger knew Perks wanted a state title but contended that it was impossible to be upset. “She swam great,” Chrisinger said. “I think the only person disappointed is Caitlin.”
Looking ahead, Perks still has bigger goals in mind.
“High school swimming, it can get you a state title and the glory,” said Perks, who is bound for the University of Tennessee in the fall. “But for USA swimming, it gets you to the college you want to go to. So I guess you have to decide which matters more to you.”
Fauquier’s other representation at the state finals, freshman Michael Hudgins, fought through a lingering illness to place 29th in the boys 100-yard freestyle in 52.11, a little more than four seconds off the time needed for Saturday’s final.
Fairfax High won the girls team title with 268 points; followed by Robinson with 220.
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