Freedom High School junior, Helen Hsu, broke the pool record in the 50 free with a time of 24.38 in the Patriots meet against Nazareth last week.

"I wasn't really going into it, thinking about breaking the pool record. I was focusing on the meet. We knew it was going to be close. The girl next to me, that's what got me motivated," said Hsu.

Nazareth's Victoria Palochik took second place just .40 seconds later.

Although Freedom's girls lost to Nazareth, 95-91, individual event winners for the Patriots were Carly DelFranco in the 200 IM with a time of 2:18.42 and the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.71, Hsu in the 100 free with a time of 53.39, Shannon Howell in the 500 free with a time of 5:30.11, and Kelly Kopko in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:16.98.

Hsu said, "[The meet] didn't go 100% as planned, but we put up a decent fight, I think. It was the first meet we had under pressure."

The Patriots also won two relays against the Blue Eagles.

DelFranco, Kopko, Hsu, and Rachael Giles took first place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:56.36, and Howell, Rileigh Ellis, DelFranco, and Hsu placed first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:43.21.

Freedom freshman, Madison Young, won the diving event with 173.10 points.

Days earlier, Hsu broke two more records in the Patriots' 111.5-66.5 victory over Allen.

Hsu broke the school record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:10.29, and the school and pool record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.54.

"I knew I could do it if I swam my best. I just didn't know if I could do it in high school," Hsu said.

Hsu also swims on a club team where she has broken records before.

Regarding the 200 IM, she said, "In the past, I've always been decent at the four strokes, but this year, with [Coach] Jon [Larson] helping me with endurance, I've been able to do the 200."

After breaking the records, Hsu's teammates were the first to congratulate her.

"They were really happy for me, and they told me. I looked up afterwards, and I couldn't believe I really made it," said Hsu.

Individual event winners for the Patriot girls against the Canaries were DelFranco in the 200 free with a time of 2:02.04, Giles in the 50 free with a time of 27.24 and in the 100 free with a time of 59.82, Howell in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:06.17, Ellis in the 500 free with a time of 6:06.19, and Kopko in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:18.34.