When senior Christine Leeper broke Woodland’s 100 Butterfly record during NVL finals this past Saturday at Kennedy High School, it was possible that her team-mates were more excited for her than she was for herself.
But Leeper isn’t just good at swimming, she’s also very good at hiding her emotions. Maybe the smile and excitement didn’t come till after getting out of the pool– maybe the realization that the record had been broken had set in yet. Nearly two minutes later, however, Leeper’s attitude had changed. No longer the calm, cool, and collective that her team-mates knew her as, Leeper was bouncing off of the walls. The record she had been chasing since her junior year– had been broken.
Last season, when former seniors Jen Tavares, Katie- Jean Hinckley, and Dayna Chucta had graduated, only two
records without their name remained. Those two records included the 100 breaststroke, from 2005, and the 100 meter butterfly from 2004.
Leeper already had her name on the record board from record winning relays, but she was motivated to clinch an individual record.
From the start of her freshmen year, Leeper had been the designated butterflyer. Although she’s able to swim
every event nearly flawless, especially
the 200 IM, Coach Mike Magas has been training this talented swimmer to butterfly.
“During practice, I do a lot of butterfly,” said Leeper. “Just getting the feel of the stroke and working on different techniques to see which ones faster helps a lot so you know what to do and not to do during a race.”
As a swimmer who has been swimming competitively for nine years, beating the record finally proved that hard work does pay off in the end.
“Knowing that I’m the only person in Woodland history who has ever swam that time and that fast… It so surreal,” expressed Leeper.
With an amazing talent, it’s no surprise that Leeper is looking to swim
in college. However, Leeper stressed that school has always come first and although a dream to swim at the Division 1 level, she would like to have a balance between the swimming and the school work. Taking more than four AP
and honors courses this year, Leeper is what we like to call the smart athlete.
In the future, the senior hopes to
Continue swimming and looks to Missy Franklin as her inspiration. And while she looks to Olympic athletes for inspiration, Leeper’s teammates look straight to her.
“When I got the record, my entire team came running over to me,” stated Leeper. “I think I hugged every single
One of them and they were so happy for me and they made me feel like I got the record for them too.”
With a time of 1:03.02, the 2004 100 Butterfly record has now been broken. And Leeper hopes that her legacy will continue on throughout Woodland history.
