Meghan Harris knew as a sophomore she wouldn't be able to stay out of the pool for long. Serving as a manager for the Shaler swim team didn't quite fulfill what she wanted.
Harris played water polo and swam competitively since she was 6. As a junior, she got back into the water for the Titans.
Recently, she helped Shaler reach a WPIAL qualifying time in the 200 medley relay by swimming the freestyle portion. Harris' time was a personal best 27.8 seconds.
The Shaler senior knew she would compete again.
“I was still friends with everyone,” Harris said. “Being a manger wasn't the same as being in the pool and competing with your friends.”
Harris stayed in swimming shape by participating in a summer league. Titans coach Keith Simmons thought Harris was a good fit for the relay. Shaler's other swimmers on the unit — sophomores Jenna Stanton and Olivia DiBon and freshman Lydia Nebiolo — are underclassmen. They finished with a time of 1 minute, 57.8 seconds.
“She's just the next fastest person in the freestyle that was able to do it,” Simmons said. “That's the closest to the time the girls had at WPIAL last year.”
Shaler has made WPIAL qualifying times in four events — three on the girls' side and one on the boys'. Stanton has qualified in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.
“I don't know if all the heavy training we did over the Christmas break is starting to pay off or not,” Simmons said. “We're heading in the right direction for the kids to put out a good effort.”
Harris wants to keep pushing herself to get lower times. To do that, she constantly is breaking down every performance.
“I'm just pushing myself every day at practice and pushing myself every meet,” Harris said. “When I have a bad time, I take it with a grain of salt and when I get back in the pool the next day. I figure out why I had a bad time and why did I have a bad time on this 50? It's about taking what you have done and practicing and practicing it until you get better.”
Harris wants to keep her spot.
“Coaches take the fastest four,” Harris said about the WPIAL champsionships. “The time I swam was the fastest I ever swam. Still, I have to go a ot farther to keep that spot. It's still very competitive. It felt amazing to be apart of accomplishing things with my best friends.”
