Brittany Iacouzze had no problem flying solo last Saturday at the Mercer County Swimming Championship finals.
While the swimmers from the other schools had the boisterous support of their teammates as they competed in the din at the Lawrence High pool, Iacouzze was just one of two representatives on hand for the Stuart Country Day School.
The poised senior distance specialist, though, made plenty of noise with her performance in the water as she battled her competitors and their supporters.
In the 200 meter freestyle final, Iacouzze engaged in a ferocious duel with Hopewell Valley's Samantha Kietlinski. The two headed down the final 25 meters stroke for stroke with Kietlinski just edging out Iacouzze at the wall by .03 with a time of 2:05.97.
The winning time and Iacouzze's 2:06.00 were both faster than the previous meet record of 2:06.56 set in 1998 by Notre Dame's Christine Williams.
There was no such drama in the 500 free as Iacouzze showed her flair for the distance events, cruising to an easy win as she beat Kietlinksi by nearly the length of the pool.
Iacouzze set a meet record for the second time in two days with her winning time of 5:29.78. In the preliminary round on Friday night, she had clocked a time of 5:34.31, bettering the previous mark of 5:34.84 set by Stuart alumna Tara Erwin in 2002.
For Iacouzze, posting an easy win and the record in the 500 was business as usual for her. "I generally swim distances and I just went and used the approach I always use, holding off the other swimmers," said Iacouzze, who was joined at the meet by fellow Stuart competitor Allison Koyen. "I wasn't shooting for a record or anything but it is exciting."
While the Yale-bound Iacouzze acknowledged that it was a bit weird swimming at the county meet without a team, she said her Stuart experience gave her something extra as she competed Saturday.
"I really wanted to represent Stuart my senior year," asserted a smiling Iacouzze, who trains and competes with the Eastern Express club.
"The education that I've gotten in Stuart has meant so much to me. I've earned so much academically and athletically. I appreciate what they have done for me and this was for them."
Iacouzze certainly did a lot for Stuart last Saturday as she went on her solo flights at the Lawrence pool.
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