I t is one down and two to go for Freehold High School swimmer Emily O’Neill, whose goal for the 2010-11 season was to defend all of her titles from last year. The first step toward that goal was the Jan. 7 Monmouth County Championships held at the Neptune Aquatic Center.
Last year the county championships were the springboard toward O’Neill’s state championship in the 100-yard backstroke. In between the county and state meets, she won the Shore Conference title.
At this year’s county championships, O’Neill was as dominant as ever in repeating as the 100 backstroke champion. She turned in her best time of the season, 59.31, to defeat Colts Neck’s Noelle Klockner, who was clocked 59.90. Klockner was the meet’s 100-yard freestyle champion.
“It’s a little bit harder when you are expected to win,” O’Neill said. “I was a little nervous.”
Her nervousness did not show as she won by six-tenths of a second, a comfortable margin in the event.
“I left it all in the pool,” she said. “I had a little bit of an edge at 50 (yards) and I took it in from there. I need to improve my start. Overall, I swam a good race.”
While admitting she was a little nervous about being expected to win, O’Neill said she was motivated by the challenge of repeating as the county champion. “There’s always a question [of] whether you can do it again,” she said. “I had to show that I could.”
O’Neill knows she will be facing the same pressure of being the defending champion at the Shore Conference Championships to be held at the Ocean County YMCAin Toms River on Feb. 6. The Monmouth County meet helped to prepare her for that next challenge.
“It helps to get one (title defense) behind me and know what is expected,” she said.
In addition to defending her state championship in the backstroke, O’Neill has one other goal: she wants to qualify for the state championships in two individual events.
The Colonials’ senior took a big step toward doing that as she finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.29) behind Marlboro’s Lisa Zhang (58.08).
“I was satisfied” finishing fourth, O’Neill said. “The butterfly is a nice change for me. I decided I had a better chance of placing in it [than the 100-yard freestyle she swam last year]. I’m excited to be competing at the Shore Conference meet.”
During the dual meet season, O’Neill competed in every event except the 500 freestyle for the Colonials and she said that diversity has made her fresher for her specialty, the 100 backstroke.
“It was good to swim other events, I’m not over-raced in one event,” she said.
Prior to the start of the season, O’Neill signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Louisville and swim for the Cardinals. She said having that decision behind her has made her much more relaxed this season, and the proof has been the results, not just at the county meet, but in dual meets, where she has won at every event in which she has competed.
“I’ve had a pretty good season,” she said. “It’s been really great.”
No doubt it will be a whole lot better if O’Neill can defend her two other championships.