Girls swimming: Barrington's Jacobsen thinking big for final high school meet

There is a simple but dazzling economy of motion when Barrington senior Kirsten Jacobsen swims the freestyle.

Part of it has something to do with the sheer scope of what you're watching, as she seems to pilot her 6-foot-2 frame through the water with effortless ease, usually against much smaller adversaries.

Also at play in the sense of bedazzlement is how much faster she is than everybody else.

Illinois will get one last sample of Jacobsen at her best in this weekend's high school state meet finals at New Trier, where she is in pursuit of some supersized achievements.

Already committed to swim at Arizona, Jacobsen is hoping to complete an impressive prep run by winning the 500-yard freestyle.

Just winning won't be quite enough to satisfy her, though. After all, she's done plenty of that already.

In the 500, she's won the event in each of her three prior state meets. Her efforts in the 200 free are almost as impressive, with victories in the two most recent seasons, along with a third-place finish in the race as a freshman.

She's the 200 free state record-holder, having won it in 1:46.98 two seasons ago - at New Trier.

It's a state record in the 500 free that matters most to Jacobsen this year.

"I almost don't like to talk about it much, but yeah, it's important to me and I've been thinking about it," Jacobsen said. "I know that 500 record is out there."

And in each of her three previous tries, Jacobsen has been tantalizingly close to getting it.

The record is held by Adrienne Bicek of Downers Grove North, who set it in the 2008 prelims. Bicek's mark stands at 4:46.66.

Jacobsen's high school finals times are, in order, 4:50.53, 4:46.93 and 4:47.29.

It should be noted that in the most recent two state meets, no one has finished within six seconds of Jacobsen.

The conventional sporting wisdom is that Jacobsen likely would have been faster if she were directly challenged by an opponent. And that notion is supported strongly by the fact that Jacobsen's lifetime best is nearly five seconds faster than her top high school clocking in the event.

But to get the state high school record, the swim must be accomplished at the state meet.

Fortunately for Jacobsen, the state meet field in the 500 is looking more competitive than ever this year - thanks to Lake Forest senior Reilly Lanigan and a host of talented distance freestylers.

Also an extremely accomplished and versatile swimmer, Lanigan is the top seed in both the 200 and 500 freestyles, just ahead of Jacobsen's second seed in both races. The 500 also features St. Charles North's Audrey and Monica Guyett among the top qualifiers, and also Jacobsen's own teammate, sophomore Maggie Emary, who finished seventh in the event last year.

The collective excellence of the distance swimmers in the Barrington program surely plays a role in Jacobsen turning in pool-record efforts in both her individual races during last weekend's sectional meet hosted by the Fillies. Emary and sophomore Maggie Menso, together with Jacobsen, formed the top 500 free trio in the state this season - and no one but perhaps St. Charles North was even close.

Menso, who will race for the Fillies in the 200 free at state, currently has the state's eighth-fastest 500 free time but will not race that event at the state meet because teams are limited to two entries per individual event.

That kind of intra-team competitiveness leads to spirited and effective conditioning at Barrington's practices.

Coach Jim Bart relayed a story from earlier this season, when a college recruiter joined him on deck, watching Jacobsen before she'd made her eventual campus choice.

In the midst of a particularly grueling sequence, Jacobsen wasn't happy with how close her teammates were getting, and abruptly took off at a much higher rate of speed.

"The guy stops looks at me and says, 'Did she just get (ticked) off?' " Bart said.

The moment is noteworthy because ticked off isn't part of Jacobsen's day-to-day demeanor.

"She's just super, super mellow," said Barrington's Sara Kate Capel, a senior who's co-captained the team with Jacobsen this fall. "We're total opposites in that sense. I'm all over the place, jumping around all the time and everything. No matter what, she's the same. Always in control, always calm. I think that's definitely part of what makes her so special."

Another part might be her ability to withstand discomfort.

Jacobsen's older sister, Anne, was a standout swimmer in Barrington's program and recently wrapped up a fine collegiate swimming career at Illinois-Chicago. She is now coaching as an assistant with the Barrington Swim Club and was watching from the stands with her father, David, as Kirsten led the Fillies to the Mid-Suburban League championship a few weeks ago.

Though the Jacobsen sisters are similarly proportioned, Anne's best races were the 100 and 200 backstrokes. She left as the UIC record-holder in the 200 and only dabbled in the long freestyles her sister has so dominated.

Anne took a moment to explain the reason Kirsten has excelled in those long races.

"It's pain tolerance," Anne said. "To do it at the level she's been able to do it, you have to accept a certain amount of pain - with regularity."

It would be a mistake, however, to confuse Kirsten Jacobsen's stoic approach with complacency.

Fremd girls swimming coach Andrew Kittrell has watched her summon fierce efforts over the last four years as the two programs have vied for supremacy in the MSL.

"What I've seen from her is that she always gives her team exactly what it needs," Kittrell said. "If she has to anchor the 400 free relay with a 51, she'll do that. If it's on the 200 relay, she'll sprint the heck out of it and help her team that way.

"Another thing, and you see this in all the really great ones - she'll chew your leg right off if that's what it's going to take to win."

If recent performances are any indication, Jacobsen is particularly hungry for success.

In the sectional meet she anchored the 200 free relay, somehow managing to hold off the MSL's top sprinter, Palatine's Kristin Anderson (her split: 23.1), to help Barrington win the race. Later, Jacobsen led off the 400 free relay in 51.1.

Though she'll race the longer distances in college, it's also clear that Jacobsen is among the top freestylers in Illinois high school history, at any distance.

Another victory in the 500 free would make Jacobsen the first to win that race at the state meet four years in a row. A record time would only emphasize her distance dominance.

Bart liked what he saw in the sectional, with season-best performances in both of Jacobsen's individual races and her fastest state-qualifying times yet.

"KJ looked great - right where she needs to be," he said with a grin. "I think we're all looking forward to state."