{"id":3258,"date":"2015-02-23T20:40:33","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T20:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=3258"},"modified":"2018-10-11T18:08:58","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T18:08:58","slug":"swim-captain-matt-gibson-breaks-19-year-old-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2015\/02\/swim-captain-matt-gibson-breaks-19-year-old-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim Captain Matt Gibson Breaks 19-Year-Old Record"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Jacob Cader:
Matthew Gibson (VI) swims the 50 yard freestyle at a meet against Dalton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the start, Fieldston\u2019s home meet against Dalton felt different; the seniors seemed quieter, swimmers were in different events, and a large, cheerful audience came to support the team in what would be the seniors\u2019 final regular-season home meet.<\/p>\n

Ending the regular season on a high note, the \u201cSeagles\u201d displayed a dominant performance against Dalton. The men\u2019s team won 69 to 43, and the girl\u2019s 85 to 67. Earning first place, recently appointed captain David Fishman (VI) swam in the two hundred yard freestyle. Captain Ben Kaeser (VI) swam the one hundred yard freestyle and the two hundred yard medley and freestyle relays, taking first place in each. In the fifty freestyle, Kaeser was second only to Matt Gibson (VI).<\/p>\n

Gibson stole the show when he broke a nineteen year-old fifty freestyle record with a time of 22.89 seconds. The record, originally set by alumnus Andrew Schlanger in 1996, is Gibson\u2019s second individual achievement. A few weeks earlier, Gibson broke the men\u2019s one hundred fly record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy for Matt,\u201d Schlanger said. \u201cI recall being very motivated to beat the old 50 free record when I was swimming. I think it had also been standing for several years.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if it were any other event, Gibson climbed up the diving board with a poised determination that the team has come to expect and swam his heart out. His teammates cheered him on as wakes formed behind him. Gibson\u2019s parents and Upper School Principal Laura Danforth watched proudly from the stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels great. Knowing that all the hard work I\u2019ve put in each day in the pool has paid off is a really great feeling,\u201d said Gibson. \u201cI remember before getting on the block thinking \u2018this time I\u2019m breaking the record,\u2019 but, when I was in the water, I couldn\u2019t and wouldn\u2019t let anything distract me from the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibson, who has been on the team for all four years of high school, reflected on the end of his last season at Fieldston.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll always be sad to leave something that you love. The people I\u2019ve swam with have become some of my closest friends, and, even though we may not be swimming together, I know we\u2019ll remain in touch,\u201d Gibson said. \u201cThe seniors, as well as the rest of the team, challenge me to do better everyday, and that kind of drive is exactly what\u2019s allowed me to get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Opdyke was more than impressed with Gibson\u2019s record and general tenacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt has been an amazing team leader this season,\u201d Opdyke said. \u201cI really could not ask more from a captain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesse Sobotka (VI), who persevered through the season with a shoulder injury, shares in the nostalgia felt by many seniors nearing the end of swim season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an athlete who gets to be on a team for four years, I see a lot of people come and go, so when it\u2019s finally my time to leave, it\u2019s pretty sad,\u201d Sobotka said. \u201cWhat\u2019s great about swim, though, is how close everyone becomes. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a close-knit team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the start, Fieldston\u2019s home meet against Dalton felt different; the seniors seemed quieter, swimmers were in different events, and a large, cheerful audience came to support the team in what would be the seniors\u2019 final regular-season home meet. Ending the regular season on a high note, the \u201cSeagles\u201d displayed a dominant performance against Dalton. The men\u2019s team won 69 to 43, and the girl\u2019s 85 to 67. Earning first place, recently appointed captain David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":3259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[317],"tags":[],"coauthors":[246],"class_list":["post-3258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/matt1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3260,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3258\/revisions\/3260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3258"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}