On Saturday, Nov. 16, Naperville North High School sophomore Tasha Mantel dove into the water to swim her 100-yard breaststroke at the Girls IHSA State Swim Prelims. Mantel had missed the 40-year-old Naperville North record for the event by .04 seconds during her previous season. However, this season, she raced through the water, and when she touched the wall for her finish, she looked up to see her new record-breaking time of 1:03.39, defeating the record of 1:03.84 by .45 seconds. Mantel details what it meant to her to break a school record.
“It was really good. Coming back from last year where I was just short of getting it was really hard, but instead of dwelling on it, I decided I’m going to work even harder this season and put all my effort towards it and it paid off,” Mantel said.
Mantel has been a swimmer for 12 years. She began her swim career because her mom put her and her sisters into swim lessons; while she at first didn’t enjoy lessons, she found her own passion for the sport over time. Mantel credits her teammates for why she has stuck with swimming for so long and how they and her family are her biggest support systems throughout the season. Senior varsity swim captain Payton Schrier reflects on her two NNHS seasons with Mantel.
“Us older girls who have been through four years of high school swim and many years of club swim prior, we all understand the pressure she is under, so we are always there for her, we support her and hype her up for every race,” Schrier said.
The previous record of 1:03.84 was held by Susan Johnson in 1984. Mantel successfully beat her by 45 milliseconds. Johnson was a sophomore when she set the record, which made it the underclassman 100-yard breaststroke record and the varsity 100-yard breaststroke record. This gives Mantel the opportunity to break her own record in the varsity category her junior or senior year. Girls varsity swim coach Andy McWhirter shares what he hopes to see Mantel accomplish with the rest of her NNHS Swim career.
“She is in the top one percent of all swimmers I’ve coached and I believe that she will continue to break that record over the next two years,” McWhirter said.
The swim captains for next year have already been announced, one of which is Abby Pobozny. Pobozny is a varsity junior swimmer, who is not only Mantel’s teammate at North, but also at Hinsdale Swim Club. She explains how Mantel has always supported her and overall been an amazing teammate.
“She has helped bring up the team’s mentality so much by being more positive and saying anyone can do it if they just put their mind to it, and she has set a good example for everyone else,” Pobozny said.
