Larkin Grabs Medals in NCAA Division I
Katie Larkin continues to put little old Huntington High School on the NCAA Division I swimming map. The Marist College sophomore grabbed a handful of medals in the recent Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships and helped the Red Foxes win their 12th team crown.
"As far as swimming goes, this year was much better than last year," Ms. Larkin said during a recent interview. "I really feel like I came into my own as a member of the Marist swim team. I most definitely enjoyed swimming a lot more as a whole. I can honestly say I am still not used to swimming twice day and always being sore from working out, but I swam much better in our dual meets this year, and it gave me a lot more confidence leading into our MAAC Championships."
The 5'2 business/marketing major successfully defended her MAAC 200-yard breaststroke title and went on to finish second in the 100-yard breaststroke and second in the 200-yard medley relay.
"Since I won the 200 breaststroke last year at our MAAC championships I had a huge title to hold not only for the woman's swim team, but for myself as well," Ms. Larkin said.
On the first day of the MAAC Championships, the 2009 Blue Devil alum placed third in the 200-yard individual medley, just like she did last year. On the second day of the conference meet she swam the 100-yard breaststroke and again placed second, just like last year. "At this point in time I was really happy with how I was swimming, but I had worked so hard during our season this year that I was not going to be satisfied unless I won the 200-yard breaststroke," Ms. Larkin said.
On the third day of the MAACs, Ms. Larkin was seeded fourth entering the 200-yard breaststroke finals and she admits to being "extremely nervous." She responded by going wall-to-wall in first place, dominating the race and winning it by nearly a full second in 2:20.09.
"Without a doubt, this was the most pressure I have ever felt for one race, and I knew it was going to be rough," she said. "Luckily, all that hard work in the pool and out of the pool paid off." The former Huntington star swam the second leg of the 200-yard medley relay and the four young ladies shattered the Marist record for the event, "which was very exciting!"
Larkin swam on the Blue Devil varsity for six years after getting the call-up as a seventh grader. She was the team MVP Award winner all six years, won four Suffolk titles and earned All-State honors as a junior and senior. She was a Long Island champ twice and has been swimming competitively since the age of eight.
Marist is a conference power and Ms. Larkin fits right in on the squad. "I was very proud of myself and so were my family and teammates," Ms. Larkin said about her performance in the MAAC Championships. The next weekend saw Marist swimmers competing in the ECAC Championships. "We were all very tired, but our team pulled through with a third place finish overall," the Huntington alum said.
With her college career at the halfway mark, the Blue Devil great is pleased the way things have been going. "I was extremely happy with how I swam this year, although there are times when I wish I could just take a day off, or even stay home for Christmas break, instead of leaving the day after Christmas to travel to Puerto Rico for our extremely, extremely harsh and painful training trip," Ms. Larkin said. "I know I have a job to fulfill, and that is swimming full-time at Marist College."
Although she immersed in classes and training, Ms. Larkin still thinks about her hometown quite often. "I miss Huntington and hope everyone is doing well," she said.