Headed into the final home swim meet of the season, Ania Axas'19 already held a number of pool records at Wilbraham & Monson Academy.
The one pool record she wanted, though, belonged to someone else. Like she has done time and time again, however, Ania showed why she may just be the best female swimmer in the history of the Academy.
Ania blazed to a time of 25.02 seconds in the 50 freestyle, setting a mark in a home meet versus Canterbury School Feb. 10. And, keep in mind, Ania still has another full season to go before she graduates.
"I'm really happy I got it," said Ania, who topped the time of 25.41, set in 2015 by Christina Felchner '16. "That's the one pool record I really, really wanted. I haven't swum that event a lot this season so I was excited. I was also proud of the team because we beat Canterbury."
Along with the 50 free, Ania has established the standard in WMA's pool in the 100 free, 200 free and 500 free. She also owned the 200 individual medley record before teammate Xin "Julie" Xiong '20 bettered her time at the Canterbury meet.
Ania had swum the pool record time previously, doing so at a club meet. However, the Titans had a strenuous week of practice, and Ania was far from fresh when she took to the pool against Canterbury.
"I think the time was good considering the week we had," Ania explained. "It was a pretty rough week of practice because it was the week before taper."
Along with being talented, Ania had been equally devoted to the WMA program since she arrived as a freshman.
"I think it's fair to say Ania is the most dedicated swimmer on the team this year," Coach Dan Moran said. "She gets in optional morning swims every time the pool is open. She leads the lane more often than not, including taking it from the boys."