Duke鈥檚 Sarah Foley hopes to continue stellar season at NCAA swim and dive championships
Durham, N.C. (BVM) 鈥� While only in her second season at Duke, sophomore Sarah Foley has already cemented her legacy in the Duke swimming and diving program.聽 The Philadelphia native hopes to punctualize her season after her recent invite to the NCAA Championship meet this week.聽
This season, Foley set five individual school records and was a part of two school record breaking relays. Two of those record times come from in-season competition. Foley broke the 400-meter individual medley record against NC State with a time of 4:08.97 and broke the 100-meter breaststroke record against rival North Carolina with 59.62 seconds. This was her first time to break a minute in the event. Foley and her teammates finished the dual meet season with a 5-3 record.聽
This past month, Foley competed alongside her teammates at the ACC Championship meet in Atlanta. There, she was the highest scoring swimmer for the Blue Devils with 82 points, only behind freshman diver Margo O鈥橫eara.聽聽聽
Foley made it to the championship final in all of her individual events at the meet. She earned All-ACC honors by placing second in the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter freestyle, while she came in fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke. All three performances were new school records for Foley.聽
Reflecting on the 200-meter individual medley, Foley remembers the nerves she had for her prelim swim.
鈥淚 was very nervous for the 200-meter individual medley in prelims,鈥� Foley said. 鈥淚 wanted to set myself up to score as many points as possible for the team.鈥澛�
But once she made the A-final with a best time, she was excited to race at night. And after her breaststroke, Foley鈥檚 signature stroke, she found herself in medal contention.聽
鈥淭he whole freestyle leg I could only think of kicking as hard as I could and getting my hand on the wall,鈥� Foley saidl. 鈥淲hen I saw that I had dropped another second from my best time and had finished in second place I was in total shock. The field was full of incredible swimmers, and I didn鈥檛 think that I would finish that high.鈥�
For Foley, the best part of that experience wasn’t the race, the time or the medal, it was the people that she was able to share the moment with.聽
鈥淭he best part of the race was after I got out and saw all of my teammates,鈥� Foley said. 鈥淪eeing all of them so excited meant the world to me, and being able to share the moment with them was something I鈥檒l never forget.鈥�
Foley was also a key part of the school record breaking 800-meter freestyle relay and 400-meter medley relay.聽 She led the way on the 800-meter relay with a school record of her own before she broke the mark later in the week. With all of the successes Foley has had at Duke, that relay has proven to be her favorite experience so far.聽
鈥�I was really excited to start the meet with that event, and I knew that our team was going to put up a really fast time,鈥� Foley said. 鈥淣ot only did we break the school record, but we beat our rivals, UNC, by three hundredths of a second. Relays are always so much fun, and what I loved the most about this one was that it was made up of two sophomores and two freshmen, so we鈥檒l all be back for the next few seasons.鈥�
Foley and the Duke women鈥檚 team finished in fifth place at ACC championships, which is tied for the highest finish in program history. Twenty-two performances on the team were in the top 10 of all time for the program, including Foley鈥檚 three school records.聽
This will be Foley鈥檚 second time representing the Blue Devils at the NCAA championships.聽 Last season, she competed in three events at the NCAA championships, including the 200-meter individual medley, the 200-meter breaststroke, and the 100-meter breaststroke. Since then, the experience of that meet and a whole year of training has helped Foley to be more comfortable in the position she is in this year.
鈥�Since last year鈥檚 meet, I鈥檝e become much more confident in my training and my ability to compete with the best in the sport,鈥� Foley said. 鈥淭his year鈥檚 ACC [championship] in particular helped me become much more confident in myself.鈥�
This season, Foley has been invited to swim in three events again at NCAA championships. The NCAA psych sheet ranks her in the top-15 in all three events.聽 Foley is the No. 14 seed in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:43.85, the No. 10 seed in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:06.63, and the No. 7 seed in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:54.47.聽
While Foley has tried not to place too many goals on this year鈥檚 meet, her first priority is getting second swims at the exceptionally fast meet. In her ideal scenario, that would lead to scoring in the top eight in an individual event.聽聽
Swimming on some of the sport’s biggest stages, along with the experience of last year, has given perspective to Foley leading up to the meet.
鈥�I鈥檓 more focused on having fun and not putting too much pressure on myself,鈥� Foley said.
Not getting caught up in the hype of the meet while still enjoying the moment, is a key lesson that benefits experienced swimmers like Foley.
With that lesson in mind, the rest just comes naturally for Foley, since all the hard work has already been done. Every member of her team knows just how ready she is to have her best performance yet. Foley has that massive support system and family behind her this week to give her just the confidence she needs. Now all she has to do is race, which is what she truly loves to do.聽聽聽
The 2022 NCAA women鈥檚 swimming and diving national championships will take place from March 16-19 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center.聽
