Mind over matter
Roy wins third 50 free title
Sylvia Roy (right) and Kaitlyn Connors (left) plunge into the pool during 50-yard freestyle meter action earlier this month. The pair faced off at the WPIAL Class AAA championships on Feb. 29 with Roy winning her third title and Connors finishing runner-up.
Sylvia Roy sprints to success in swimming because she enters every event in the right frame of mind.
“My mentality plays a role,” agreed Roy. “You can do all the training in the water, but your mental state is the most important part of a race. You do all you can to get ready for the race but you have to stay positive.”
Even before she secured her third straight title for the 50-yard freestyle during the first day of competition at the WPIAL Class AAA championships held Feb. 29 at Pitt’s Trees Pool, Roy was laser focused on her task.
“Sylvia’s a racer,” said Lebo skipper Tom Donati. “When she steps onto the blocks, she is not scared. She is not worried. She believes in herself. It’s a rare talent that she possesses. You can’t teach what she has.”
Donati added that Roy did what she needed to do. Roy touched out her Upper St. Clair rival Kaityln Connors for the gold medal with a 22.84 time. The mark was a shade off last year’s 22.72 time and just off the WPIAL record of 22.71 set in 2018 by Olivia Livingston.
“Was it the perfect race? No,” said Donati, “but Sylvia got the win and I’ll take it.
“Sylvia did what she had to do against a very good opponent. Kaitlyn swam very well. She and Sylvia have battled each other for years. I’m happy for her.”
For Roy, it was her third straight championship in the 50 free. She was pleased with that point.
“I’m not as happy with the time, but you really can’t be too upset about a tenth after all it’s the 50 free,” Roy said. “Winning through is really thrilling. It’s the same excitement winning it again. It felt great.”
Roy felt good about anchoring the medley relay team to a second-place showing behind North Allegheny. The team also consisted of Ellie Reinhart, Helen Albu and Lillian Evan.
“We debated about doing that relay or focusing on the free but those girls really wanted to swim the medley. My hat’s off to them. Give them credit. They did a fantastic job,” Donati said.
On the boys side in that event, Lebo took third behind NA and USC. Michael Zhu, Ryan Frank, Matthew Klepchick and Sangay Lama comprised the unit.
Other top performances submitted on the first day of competition included silver-medal efforts by Amanda Adair from Upper in the 200 IM and Jackson Edwards of Bethel Park in the 50 free. USC’s medley and 200 free relays also took second places.
Because the entire WPIAL championship meet occurred over two days, continuing into March 1, complete results were not available for this edition of The Almanac. A fuller report on Day 1 as well as complete coverage can be found in an updated version online as well as in the publication published March. 10.