Chatham swimmer Glasspool bringing down her butterfly times as PAC finals approach

Chatham sophomore swimmer Abigail Glasspool doesn’t hide her dislike for the 200-yard butterfly. Not even when talking in front of fourth-year coach Rebecca Yost.

But the Plum grad can’t escape the idea that the “2-fly” might be her best event.

“It isn’t my favorite event,” Glasspool said. “But coach believes in me that I can do good and improve in that, and that’s what I’m working toward this year. I’m excited for what I can do at PACs (the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships) in the 2-fly.”

Glasspool slowly is working her way toward the desired times in her events. She is only a couple of seconds away from reaching the 1-minute, 1-second mark in the 100 fly, and 2:25 is within reach in the 200 fly.

Nearing those goals is a welcome feeling for Glasspool. After a couple of years of seeing her times stagnate, she has started to return to where her marks were during her junior season in high school.

Yost said it is not uncommon for swimmers have periods when they plateau in their performances. Glasspool’s efforts to lower her times last season were hindered by the covid-19 pandemic. Not only were the Cougars — and all the other PAC teams — forced to train differently, they had only three dual meets before heading into the PAC finals.

And even the PACs were unusual, crammed into two days rather than the normal three-plus days.

Yost said Glasspool had the fortitude to push through her personal barriers as well as the covid challenges.

“Even when I was recruiting her, I saw someone who was driven and motivated to be in the pool,” Yost said. “She handled it with a maturity unmatched by many others.

“The results we saw from last year really lit a fire under her, and she used those results to drive and motivate her this year.”

Glasspool said she came into this season feeling more confident. That confidence was validated at midseason when she started achieving the target times she had been setting for herself.

“Coming back and getting those times, I was very excited and proud of myself,” she said. “I trusted the coach, and I did what she said and trusted the process. I think I was just nervous to swim again and compete because I really didn’t have a good senior year of high school.”

Glasspool’s 2021 season concluded with her earning spots on the podium in the 100 and 200 fly at the PAC meet. She placed seventh in both.

This season she is hoping to nudge into the top five or six in the conference.

She also lends a hand in the sprint freestyle events, competing in the 50 and 100 free as well as Chatham’s freestyle relays. It’s a nice break, she said, from competing in butterfly.

At last season’s PAC championships, she helped Chatham place third in the 400 free relay and fourth in the 200 free relay.

Of course, when she’s in the pool with the Cougars’ medley relay team, it’s back to the butterfly. She was part of the Chatham quartet that placed fourth in the 200 medley relay at the 2021 PACs.

The PAC championships are scheduled to begin Thursday at Grove City, so the moment of truth has arrived for Glasspool and the Cougars. She is confident plenty of trips to the medal stand are ahead for her and the team.

Though a higher place is no guarantee she will learn to love the “2-fly” any more.

“It’s my strongest stroke. I wish it wasn’t sometimes,” she said. “But it gives me an opportunity to place at PACs.”