Petro spins remarkable record effort for Hersey

The team record board at Hersey's home pool, the Olympic Indoor Swimming Center in Arlington Heights, is starting to look a little redundant these days.

At the moment, junior standout Amanda Petro has her name on six of the possible 12 team swimming records, and it seems likely by season's end she'll have ownership of at least a couple more.

A two-time individual state qualifier in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles, Petro's most remarkable attribute may be her flexibility.

In addition to holding Huskies records in those events, she's also tops in the 500 free and on the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.

This season she's claimed the 200 IM, and on Wednesday she narrowly missed the 100 backstroke mark, winning in 1:01.02 as Hersey topped Schaumburg.

To be sure, talent plays a role in her versatility. But Hersey coach Dick Mortensen think there's another important ingredient in Petro's success.

“She just believes she's going to win every single time she gets in the pool,” said Mortensen.

Sometimes, though, winning isn't enough. Mortensen entered Petro in the 500 freestyle in a dual meet last season, and he was pleased when she won her race.

Petro? Not so pleased.

“I could tell something was wrong,” said Mortensen, “and she explained that she'd missed the team record by a couple of seconds, and she was begging me to let her swim it again.”

After the next time out, there was a new Hersey record holder in the 500 free.

“I do love to race,” said Petro. “Practice is practice, but I really look forward to meets.”

That kind of confidence, matched with consistent intensity in workouts and an overall awareness of the sport's finer points, puts Petro in an elite category.

“She tells me more about her own swims than I'll be able to tell her,” said Mortensen. “We'll talk after every race, and I'll have one or two things I noticed — and she'll have five or six other details she's telling me about.”

Mortensen traces Petro's competitive bent back to her freshman year, when she was routinely racing then-senior Kathryn Korff in the sprint freestyles. Petro generally got the better of it between the two of them in the 100, but Korff's example rubbed off.

“Korff would have no problem telling her, ‘OK, you got me this time, but I'm coming after you next time and I'm going to get you,'” Mortensen said. “When you have a healthy rivalry like that, it pushes you and really teaches you what it means to race.”

Being around leaders such as Christine Rovani, a Hersey senior and team captain last year, also provided instruction in nontechnical areas of the sport.

“We do a lot of sprint workouts, and because of her speed Amanda often has a little bit of extra time as the other kids are finishing their swims,” Mortensen said. “She's the first one rooting the other kids on, I think because she understands how important that enthusiasm is.”

Hersey lost some key pieces from last year's team, including Rovani and state-qualifying diver Katie Dewar. But the Huskies have plenty to shoot for as a team.

“We know it'll be tough, but we're hoping to win the (Mid-Suburban) East, and that would be the fifth straight for us,” Petro said.

On an individual level, Petro has a less clearly defined path ahead of her. She'd love to qualify again for the state meet in the 100 and 200 freestyles, but above all she'd like to finish in the top 12 and score points.

And there's a distinct possibility she'll be trying to accomplish that in events other than the 100 and 200 freestyles.

“It'll be really interesting as we move along this season,” said Mortensen. “She's strong in all the freestyles, the backstroke, the IM ... so if we figure out after conference that just about everybody else is going to be swimming the 100 free at state, we might have some other options with Amanda.”

All of which means it's likely some more records will be falling at Hersey.