Shoreham-Wading River senior Emily Herr has record-setting day at Suffolk girls swimming championships
Emily Herr of Shoreham-Wading River wins the 100-yard breaststroke during the Suffolk girls individual swimming championships on Sunday at Stony Brook. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Though she will forever be a Wildcat, Shoreham-Wading River senior Emily Herr has left a lasting impression in the heart of Seawolves country.
On Sunday morning at Stony Brook University, Herr won a pair of Suffolk County championship races, bringing her varsity career total to nine. She began her day by breaking the venue’s all-time record in the 200-yard freestyle by swimming 1 minute, 51.21 seconds, lowering her own record of 1:51.50 that she set two years ago. Later, she posted a 1:04.91 in the 100 breaststroke to claim her last county title.
The current SWR Wildcat and future Villanova Wildcat will never swim at a local meet again, as her next task is the state championship. Afterward, she will move on to swimming in the Big East Conference. Unless Villanova schedules a road meet at Stony Brook in the future, Herr’s time breaking records at the school’s pool is done, which is why she wanted to go out on top once more.
“It’s amazing,” Herr said. “Last year, I didn’t swim in the 200 free. So this year, my goal was to break my own record, and I did, which I’m really happy about. It’s definitely exciting, but also sad because it’s my senior year, so this is my last county meet. I’m proud of myself for all the hard work I put in.”
Herr collects Suffolk championships like Thanos collects Infinity Stones. One of the very few ones missing from her collection was the 100 breaststroke, so she decided she wanted to give it a try this year.
“Breaststroke is one of my stronger events — 200 and 100 breaststroke — and I hadn’t swam that at counties ever, so I figured I might as well just do it my senior year,” Herr said.
Another multi-event champion was Longwood sophomore Brooke Orner, who won the 50 free in 24.01 and the 500 free in 5:10.9. Though the two events are nothing alike, Orner’s training with the Sachem Swim Club prepared her adequately for both.
“We have been doing a lot more distance than we’ve ever done before,” Orner said. “We went from about 4,000-, 5,000-yard practices to about 6,000 or 7,000 practices. I use that to pace me for my 500 time.”
Mount Sinai sophomore Chelsie Zhao pulled off an upset in the 200 individual medley, where she was seeded fifth but finished first with a 2:13.8.
“I’ve been training harder, and all of the support I’ve been getting, it just made me feel so happy, and that gave me the motivation to really work for that time,” Zhao said. “I’m just shocked. It’s so amazing that this would happen for me, and it means so much to me.”
Elsewhere, Sayville/BBP senior Lauren Woody won the 100 butterfly in 57.91, Hauppauge/Smithtown freshman Sarah Lucca captured the 100 free in 51.9 and her twin sister, Julia Lucca, won the 100 backstroke in 56.23.
The Lucca twins both swam in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay and helped lead their team to victory in both, with Hauppauge/Smithtown posting a 1:47.52 and 1:36.29, respectively. The latter time is a Suffolk record. Their individual and relay performances helped Hauppauge/Smithtown score 257 points, leading to its fourth consecutive county championship as a team.
Sayville/BBP won the 400 free relay with a 3:36.49, largely due to a strong anchor leg by junior Meghan Brady. Brady finished just .08 seconds behind Herr in the 200 free, which is the second-fastest finish in the pool’s history.