WW-P North grad Soni repeats at NCAAs

USC sophomore is top breaststroker

By: Justin Feil
   Rebecca Soni may be thousands of miles from home, but she’s making waves felt all the way across the country.
   Soni had her pick of colleges when she graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High North in 2005. She chose the University of Southern California, a long way from New Jersey, but she has brought plenty of pride to her hometown as a two-time NCAA champion.
   "I think I have been going down the right road," Soni said. "Hopefully I’ll keep going to get faster."
   Soni is on track. She defended her 200-yard breaststroke title at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, a day after earning All-America honors in the 100-yard breaststroke for the second straight season. Soni did so by avenging her Pac-10 loss to Stanford’s Caroline Bruce. Soni won in 2:08.23, just seven-hundredths of a second off her 2006 school record. It left her a perfect 2-for-2 in the NCAA 200 breast.
   "That’s what I was hoping for," Soni said. "It was a goal. I’m proud of it."
   Soni never swam for the WW-P North Knights, but she was a standout swimmer for the Scarlet Aquatics Club that practices at Rutgers University. She was the 2005 U.S. national champion in the 200-meter breast out of WW-P North. She was ranked among the top 25 in the world in the 100- and 200-meter breast through 2005 and won a pair of silver medals at the 2005 U.S. World University Games. She hoped that success would continue when she decided to leave Plainsboro and cross the country to swim collegiately in California.
   "It was definitely a big decision to leave everyone behind," Soni said. "It’s obviously really far from New Jersey. I was just looking for a school that would fit me best with a great swim program and a school that would fit. And Mark Schubert seemed like a perfect coach."
   Schubert is well respected. In addition to being USC’s head coach, he is USA Swimming’s national team head coach and general manager. He will head the national team that travels to Sydney, Australia, on Apr. 3 for the Duel in the Pool that pairs the US against Australia. Soni is one of three swimmers added to the team that consists of the 2007 World Championships team. That meet will be her final of the season before she begins to gauge her chances to make the 2008 Olympic team.
   "I’m aiming for it and thinking about it a lot," she said.
   While some swimmers will take a year off from school to concentrate on the Olympics, Soni will take aim at a spot while continuing to swim at USC.
   "I’m pretty sure I’ll still be here," she said. "I think I’m the kind of the person that needs distractions away from swimming. If I took a year off, it would be too much swimming. Doing something else is good for me."
   Soni hasn’t had problems balancing her swimming with school. A Scholastic All-America at WW-P North, she is narrowing down her choice for a major while showing she is still tough to beat in the pool. As a freshman, after having cardiac ablation surgery that summer, she did not lose a race in the 200 breast all season. This year, she bounced back from her Pac-10 loss to again take the national crown.
   "I don’t know if I was the favorite," Soni said. "I was definitely going into it being confident and believing I could do it. I was seeded second this year after the prelims. I like to be the one that everyone isn’t focusing on."
   The win helped make up for her disappointment in not faring better in the 100 breast last Friday. While she still collected All-America honors, she had been hoping to improve on her second-place finish as a freshman at nationals. She may just be cut out to be a better 200 breaststroker.
   "I wasn’t really happy about my 100," Soni said. "I went out faster in my 200 for the first 100 than I swam my 100 in. It was about the same. That happens a lot to me. I get nervous and I’m not that confident in that event.
   "In the 200, I kind of just slow my stroke down instead of sprinting through it. In the 200, I also can build up my stroke for a while. It takes me a 100 or 150 to find my stroke."
   Soni has found her place at USC. In her first season, she established herself as one of the premier Trojans by setting school records in the 100 and 200 breast and in her specialty on two medley relays. Competing in that team atmosphere was something she did not experience at WW-P North.
   "It has been a little different," Soni said. "I didn’t swim high school and the club team is not as team-oriented. College is really team oriented. That was a difference. It’s a mixture of both. Everyone is focused on doing really well and it’s great to have teammates pushing you. I’m loving it."
   Soni stays in touch with her Scarlet Aquatics coach, and still hears from plenty of former classmates. She has the opportunity to make them all a little prouder to know her if she can remain unbeaten for two more years at the NCAAs.
   "It’s definitely a goal to do that," she said. "The competition is getting better as the years go on. I’m excited. It should be good next year.
   "It’s definitely a goal. I’m more focused on the 200. But if I could get the 100, that would be good too."