- By Dan Veaner
- Sports
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Swim coach Diane Hicks-Hughes says, "This is a new Lansing School record and IAC (Interscholastic Athletic Conference) record." Ms. Dean swam the the 500 yard Freestyle in 5:21.85, beating the previous record set in 1990 by Lansing swimmer Sarah Newman in 1990. Ms. Newman was also coached by Ms. Hicks-Hughes.
"I beat it by ten hundredths of a second. When you get down to that time every little thing counts," says Ms. Dean. "I didn't feel like I was going that fast. I was keeping up with a girl but I kind of lost her at the end, because I was really tired. So I thought I'd get a 5:25 or something like that. I looked at the score, and it was a State record.
Lansing is in the C division and normally competes against the other C teams: Watkins Glen, Dryden, Whitney Point and Waverly. The EFA Invitational gives students across the divisions to compete with each other. "All the schools, A, B and C can get together and see who is out there and see who your competition is when you go to States," explained Ms. Dean. Schools qualify for a division based on the size of the student population.
Swimmers have to make the cut in the preliminaries to compete the next day. The top 12 swimmers get to compete in either the consolation finals or finals, in which the top six swim. She placed third in the finals with a time of 5:27.82. She also placed first in the 200 yard freestyle finals with a time of 1:58.94.
The team was excited when they learned she had set a record. "They congratulated me and said, 'good job!' The girls that were with me that night ran up to me and were giving me hugs and were excited. It was cool."
Nikki is hoping to beat the record she set. "If I can get the State times and go to State, and have more competition there, I'm hoping to beat it."
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