Brianna Romaine is an adrenaline junkie when it comes to her swimming.
“I have always done sprint training,” said Romaine, a sophomore standout for the Princeton High girls’ swimming team. “I just love the rush, going up and getting after it right away.”
Last Thursday, Romaine certainly got after it as PHS competed at WW/PS. The sprint specialist won both the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke races as the Little Tigers cruised to a 100-70 win over the Pirates.
Romaine loved seeing PHS post a second straight win over WW/P-S as the Little Tigers had not beaten the Pirates this century until topping them 94-76 last year.
“It is such a big step for us,” said Romaine, reflecting on the victory which improved the Little Tigers to 5-0.
“South is always such a big meet and it’s a big focus meet and we were power pointing. It is a great start for the early season. It feels good to get a leg up and just race.”
Showing her focus, Romaine posted a time of 55:06 in winning the 100 free, more than two seconds better than runner-up Annie Menninger from WW/P-S. Romaine won the 100 back race by an even greater margin as she posted a time of 1:03.51 with Sarah Lattime of WW/P-S finishing second in 1:08.82.
“I was very happy with my times, they were close to my top meet times,” said Romaine, who also competes on the club level for Peddie Aquatics.
“I couldn’t ask for much else, my teammates are so supportive. My 100 back was good. There is still so much more room for improvement like my turns and my underwater kicks. Getting these races in now and having the opportunity to race so many times in the high school season definitely helps me work on the things I need to. It helps my swimming overall.”
Having a full season of high school swimming under her belt has also helped Romaine.
“I feel like I know the drill better,” said Romaine. “I know how I need to prepare myself before my races. Before I would warm up randomly but now I know that I need to get in at the break and I need to swim before. I know that I always need to drink water. I am more aware of things.”
With the Little Tigers off to such a good start, the team appears well-prepared to make a spirited run at defending its title at the Mercer County Championships in a few weeks time.
“I could not be more proud of the girls team,” asserted Romaine, who will look to help PHS stay on the winning track when it returns from the holiday break to host Steinert on January 2.
“We are a young team. We have some very strong freshmen. We all swam great today. Our captains are really organized and they are great leaders. The counties are definitely something to look forward to. The team has talked about it and beating South is the perfect way to look forward to the future.”