You know the saying, “records are meant to be broken,” but for the Locust Valley swimming program, an elite standard has been set. Junior Nina Lemaitre qualified for the NYSPHSAA Championships as the first-ever swimmer from Locust Valley High School to accomplish this feat.
The five-year varsity veteran qualified for the 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 59.84 seconds in a meet on Oct. 8. She needed to get under 1:00.02.
“I knew it felt like a really good race, it felt like I was going fast,” Lemaitre said in response to what she felt during her states-qualifying race. “Coach [Rachel] McShane showed me the stopwatch and I was so in shock. I started crying.”
Locust Valley head coach Rachel McShane said she set a “standard” for the program, which has only been around for six years. To accomplish a goal of this magnitude speaks volumes and brings eyes to an up-and-coming program, she said.
“We have a small team, but we continue to really make a mark in Nassau County,” McShane said. “I just hope that our program grows and that more people see the value of swimming.”
Locust Valley and Carle Place are a joint program, and Carle Place sent Abby Han to states. Ever since then Lemaitre set her eyes on the same prize.
“It was always a goal,” Lemaitre said. “I was really inspired to make it when Carle Place sent Abby and my other friend on my club team made it last year, as well.”
Lemaitre arrived at the pool as a seventh grader and impressed McShane as she was called up to varsity at such a young age. Even though she was just 12 or 13 years old, she was able to compete at the highest level.
“She had already been swimming on a club team prior to the establishment of our varsity program,” McShane said. “She had the skills and technique, even as a seventh grader, that allowed her to compete with high schoolers, even when she was in middle school. She has been such a hard worker and really dedicated to her sport. She really enjoys swimming and she’s talented, but also puts in the hard work that’s needed in order to achieve the level that she’s at.”
In addition to qualifying for states, Lemaitre has qualified for seven events at this year’s County Championship. She can choose two of the 50-yard Free, 100-yard Free, 100-yard Fly, 100-yard Back, 100-yard Breast, the 500 and the 200-meter Individual Medley. Some swimmers can’t even qualify for one, and most don’t qualify for multiple.
Lemaitre knew she was capable of competing at a high level during her sophomore season just a year ago. Competing at states has always been a goal for her, but she fell in love with the sport at an early age.
“Sometime around last year, I really started moving up, putting the work in and my times started dropping,” Lemaitre said. “I was trying to make it in a different event and then coming into this year, I felt really confident about it just because my times have been really close [to the qualifying time].”
As Lemaitre continues to add to her resume, noting that being a team captain is something that may be overlooked when the other accolades shine the brightest as just a junior in high school. But sometimes being a leader can guide you a little further than just the talent.
“I could not have done it without all the girls cheering for me,” Lemaitre said. “I love our team, I love how close we are. I definitely think I’ve grown in the sense that rather than taking my mistakes and getting upset by them, I take them as motivation to see what I can do better next time, which really helped me make states. At the beginning of the season, I was still a second off and rather than just getting upset by it and that affecting me mentally, I tried to put it into what I was doing wrong. What do I need to fix? That’s what I worked on.”
“She’s matured a lot in the sense that when she didn’t hit the benchmarks that she wanted to as a freshman or a sophomore or even as a middle-school swimmer, she would be visibly upset, or get down on herself,” McShane said. “Now she’s learned to take it in stride and clearly it’s paid off because she was able to set this standard rather than achieve this milestone.”
Powerful words from her coach, as Lemaitre looks to cap off her historic season at the New York State Championships on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 at the Webster Acquatics Center in Webster, NY.
