PLAINSBORO: Local swimmer strikes Olympic gold

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Plainsboro’s Olympic hero did it again.
   West Windsor-Plainsboro High North graduate Rebecca Soni burst onto the Olympic swimming scene in 2008 with a three-medal performance in Beijing that saw her capture a gold medal and set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke.
   Soni, a 2005 graduate of WW-P North, returned to the Olympic Games this year and has picked up right where she left off.
   On Thursday she became the first swimmer to defend her own Olympic gold medal in the 200 breaststroke when she broke her own world record set one day earlier to win in 2:19.59.
   Soni, who finished more than a second ahead of silver medalist Satomi Suzuki of Japan, became the first woman to ever break 2:20 in the 200 breaststroke.
   She opened her performance in London by capturing a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke, then broke the world record in the 200-meter breast during Wednesday’s semifinals when she swam 2:20.00.
   On Thursday, she again made it an Olympic performance to remember by capturing a gold medal in the 200 breaststroke in what has become her signature bright pink swim suit at these Olympic Games.
   ”I felt there was no pressure,” Soni said in the press conference after her semifinal performance on Wednesday. “I just wanted to feel it and see how it went. I just went for it. You’ll see that records are becoming faster worldwide and it’s going to be great. Anything can happen tomorrow so I’ll save my best for that. I’m really excited, I just have to do it one more time.”
   In the 100 breaststroke, Soni swam 1:05.55 and trailed only Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who finished in 1:05.47. She will likely get one more shot at a medal on Friday as a member of the United States 4×100 medley relay team.
   In 2008, Soni took home a pair of silver medals in addition to her gold by finishing second in the 100 breast and being part of the second place 4×100 medley relay.