Feibel helped get Pirates started
By: Justin Feil
A year ago, Gabi Feibel enjoyed a solid first Mercer County Girls’ Swimming Championships. Then a sophomore at West Windsor-Plainsboro South, she won the 500 freestyle and was third in the 200, just one piece as the Pirates cruised to an easy county title win.
Saturday, it wasn’t as easy, but Feibel was there from start to end for the Pirates, who needed every point they earned. Feibel opened the county meet in dramatic fashion by racing down Princeton High’s anchor in the 200 medley relay for a stirring win.
"She didn’t have the best start," said WW-P South head coach Paul Hamnett. "The girl had such a big lead, I figured we were going to get second. I started jumping on the deck once she came off the wall."
That’s when Feibel, who overcame a slow start and dive that went too deep off the blocks, seemingly found another gear to overtake the Little Tigers and propel the Pirates to the win. She returned for a gut-check fourth-place in the 200 freestyle and wound up second in the 100 free before she held off Hopewell Valley’s top sprinter for the Pirates’ win in the 200 free relay. The relays were the only Pirate wins outside of Evelyn Yuen’s victory in the 100 breaststroke as they finished with 224 team points to runner-up PHS’ 191 to capture a fifth straight Mercer County title.
Gabi Feibel is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"She really sacrificed in that medley," Hamnett said. "I definitely think it took a lot out of her for the 200. It wasn’t her usual. She left everything in her to win the medley. I think that race affected her individual races. She was not as happy as she could have been, but team-wise it was such a big spark for us.
"We’re finding she can be more of a sprinter than she normally was for us," he added. "She didn’t get a great start, but that swim was the key to the whole meet. I think it helped our boys too."
The Pirates boys finished a strong second to winner Lawrence, but it was Feibel’s effort that set the tone for the day that included numerous personal bests.
"It’s adrenaline," Feibel explained. "It’s amazing what it can do for you. She might have been a body-length ahead of me. I didn’t really see her. I was just trying to focus and keep my strokes smooth and fast. I was just trying to go fast to beat her."
Feibel was just doing her job. This year, it’s an expanded role for the junior, who also swims for Eastern Express club team.
"She is definitely more important this year," Hamnett said. "She’s taken over Kate Guthrie’s role of swimming wherever I need her, whether it’s distance or shorter events."
To which Feibel replies: "Kate Guthrie was fabulous. I don’t know if he should compare me to Kate Guthrie. But I would try to my hardest in any race he puts me in. I would go in and kill myself because I know we’d need to do well for the team. I know I need to work harder for the team."
Saturday was an example of just how hard Feibel is willing to work for the Pirates. Feibel couldn’t say for certain that she would have won either the 200 or 500 frees had she been fully rested, but she was in no condition to swim the most critical events for the Pirates after ensuring they had a quick start to the finals.
"It definitely took a lot out of me," Feibel said. "I don’t think I felt it when I got out of the pool. I didn’t really feel the pain when I got in the pool next. After I was done, five or seven minutes later, I had to do the 200 and it was hard. I felt good at the beginning and then I sort of died. I felt I had to get a good place for the team. The last 50, my body died on me, and I tried to push myself."
Feibel had more time to recover before her 100 freestyle, and she had already decided that it would be a race she’d have more fun in with a number of friends from the Express team in the same race.
"I’m happy with the swim," Feibel said. "The whole heat did really well in the 100 free, so it was good."
Feibel didn’t do so many of the sprint races last season. Now, more and more, the Pirates are relying on her for points in the sprints and the relays. It’s part of a transformation of the team.
"We’ve become more of a sprinting team than distance team," Hamnett said. "It seems that way this year."
"It’s definitely a different type of racing," Feibel said of the sprints. "There’s a different type of mentality too. You don’t have time to think. You just go in and go fast from the beginning. They’re such fast races, you get in and you get out. I go in and kind of kill myself and finish.
"I don’t know if I’m a good sprinter. I just try to swim hard for any race he puts me in."
Saturday, the Pirates needed her for their relays. It was part of the reason she stayed off the relays in Friday’s preliminaries to ensure she’d be fresh for the finals.
"When you have someone like her," Hamnett said, "you want to use her where it’s most effective. I thought we had a good shot of winning the medley with Gabi on it. It was two out of three (relays). We qualified third, third and sixth. I tried to figure where she could help us move up most in. Medley was a chance, but it paid off."
It paid off only after Feibel produced what may have been the finest 50 free race of her career. It was one she’ll remember for a long time, mostly because it sparked the Pirates to a fifth-straight Mercer County championship.
"Whenever you feel you have pressure on yourself, you feel the need that you have to go faster," Feibel said. "That’s definitely how I felt. I didn’t even think I could have done it. It’s just I felt I had to do it for this team. I focused on the team. It’s good the way it worked out."

