Before the final swim meet of the season even began, Ania Axas '19 had a truly great season for Wilbraham & Monson Academy.
Then, throw in the season finale, and Ania had one of the best swim seasons in Academy history – and she's a freshman.
Ania set two school records at the New England Division III Championships March 5 at the Canterbury School, establishing new marks in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Butterfly.
Coming out of the fourth seed, she bettered her previous school mark in the 200 IM in the trials before going even faster in the final, winning the race in two minutes, 10.59 seconds.
"I was hoping, since I was ranked fourth, I wanted to make it to finals and beat my time because I knew I could," Ania said. "There were a lot of girls from USA Swimming there. I focused on my race. I beat my previous best time in the morning in the trial, and then I beat it again at night in the final."
In the final, Ania trailed before gaining the lead in the final event: the freestyle.
"I'm thrilled all my hard work paid off," Ania added. "It's not my best event, but I enjoy the 200 IM so it was nice to swim it at New Englands. And it was a great feeling to win. Going into prelims I was ranked fourth, and there was tough competition, but I was proud I swam my own race, didn't worry about anyone else, and won."
Setting a new record in the 100 Butterfly was a complete surprise and bonus. Her trial time of 1:00.23 topped the school record of 1:01.12, set by Ivy Durepo '13. She placed fifth in the final.
"I wasn't expecting a record in the 100 Butterfly, but getting the record in the prelims made me really happy," she said.
Ania, who was named MVP of the team at the Athletic Awards Ceremony March 3, said her season couldn't have gone any better. She also set a school record in the 500 Freestyle (5:16.46), giving her a total of three school marks in her first season.
"This is the most fun I've ever had swimming," said Ania, who has competed in high-level swim meets throughout the east coast. "USA Swimming is more individual swimming, but being on a high school team you become family with your team and it helped me grow more."