Division I-bound swimmers lead Mount Saint Mary to county championship

Catherine Ritter felt her heart racing as she prepared to dive into the pool at Montgomery High School.

The Mount Saint Mary Academy senior was set to swim the third leg of her team’s 400-yard freestyle relay of the Somerset County championship on Feb. 1. Fellow senior Dani Carter would anchor the race. The pressure was on the Lions as they trailed two other swimmers.

“Going into that relay, we knew that it came down to that race to be able to win the meet, and so I was really tired, Dani was really tired, everyone was really tired,” Ritter said. “We were behind, and it was just one of those times where adrenaline takes over – at least for me. The pain kind of falls away, and I’m just swimming to hit the wall.”

Ritter came up clutch with a time of 52.30 – her best 100-yard freestyle sprint in high school – and overtook both swimmers before Carter brought home the win to give Mount Saint Mary the county championship.

“I just knew that I needed to lock in and channel all that energy from the screaming on the sidelines and just win it for the team because they had done so much,” Carter said. “That relay was the highlight of this season.”

It was a fitting moment for a team, led by two Division I-bound swimmers, that is all about friendship and teamwork.

Carter, a UC San Diego commit from West Orange, and Ritter, a Dartmouth commit from Westfield, had different beginnings in the sport.

As the legend goes in her family, Carter was watching the 2012 Summer Olympics on television, pointed at Michael Phelps and said she wanted to do that. Meanwhile, Ritter took swim lessons like other little kids and came to love the thrill of racing while being with her best friends.

They crossed paths at club meets when they were younger, but they didn’t get to know each other until Carter transferred to Mount Saint Mary from Villa Walsh Academy as a high school sophomore. And like what they experienced growing up, a bond formed outside the pool is what truly made their time as swimmers fulfilling.

“It’s hard to be a swimmer because you’re just staring at a line, it’s monotonous for two hours a day,” Carter said. “You learn to love that part, but what really makes it special is the friendships I’ve made both on my club team and the high school team. Mount has been such a great experience for me, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to be on.”

Ritter admits to feeling intimidated at first when she found out Carter was coming to the Mount and researched her race times. After all, Carter has been part of a USA Swimming club called Life Time Metro, while Ritter swims for Fanwood Scotch Plains YMCA.

“I was really nervous, but I got to know her and she’s just the sweetest girl and she’s such a hard worker, and I’m really, really happy that I got to know her so well,” Ritter said. “She was an awesome addition to our team, and not only is she so talented, but she’s also so kind and encouraging to everybody.”

Hard work is the hallmark of both year-round swimmers, who are in the pool for six days per week except when they mostly take off in August. The high school season runs from November to March, with practices in the morning.

Carter focuses on sprint swimming and aerobics and trains in a program called SwimStrong Dryland involving plyometric work and weight lifting.

“I think it’s really helped me get stronger in the water,” Carter said. “It really focuses on swim-specific, not movements, but just things that will help you in the water instead of just the traditional weight lifting that will just get you stronger. It’s specifically for swimmers, which I really, really like.”

Ritter lifts weights three days per week with all-body workouts, focusing on power and reps while aiming to build her endurance and sustained strength.

Swimmers also must stay hydrated and eat more than the average athlete. Ritter strives to eat in moderation, especially with easy, digestible carbs before practice and protein after practice to facilitate muscle growth and recovery. Other nutrients in healthy foods like vegetables are critical as well.

“In high school you just have to begin working harder, and I think I learned a lot about myself in that process,” Ritter said. “You have to go to practice every day, you have to really focus on little things, and you have to be patient with your progress. And also, having community is I think what honestly helped me the most is having people around me to push me and encourage me. I think really just showing up every day and having some discipline is what I do best for myself.”

Carter and Ritter have had illustrious runs under coach Megan Decker with Mount Saint Mary’s historic swimming program, which most recently captured a state championship in 2022.

Both hold top-five times at the school in multiple races, and they have been part of the program’s best relay times in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle. At the county meet, Carter won the 100-yard freestyle and Ritter won the 50-yard freestyle.

When Gloucester County Institute of Technology hosts New Jersey’s Meet of Champions during the first weekend in March, Carter aspires to break Mount Saint Mary’s 100-yard backstroke record time of 54.14 and will also swim a freestyle race. Ritter plans to compete in the 50-yard freestyle and some relays.

For both swimmers, perfecting their times largely comes down to improving their turns and underwater techniques. Ritter also works on her reaction time off the block.

“I think that strength training has helped me with my underwaters because it’s given me a lot more power and I am able to connect my muscles better and get my underwaters to be more cohesive and seamless in my swimming,” Ritter said. “For me at least, that’s really important in a sprint race because kind of everything needs to be perfect to get to where you want to be.”

Carter believes that being tall is crucial to being a top sprint swimmer, and they certainly have those genes as Carter is 6-foot and Ritter is 5-foot-10.

But the results come down to hard work and faith. Once the high school season ends, their ultimate goal when they go to college will be to one day compete at the NCAA Championships.

“I’m just thankful that God gave me the natural talent for swimming with my height, my strength, and just the ability to look at that black line for so many hours because I think for a lot of people, that’s not a natural thing that you enjoy doing,” Carter said. “At big meets I usually just say a quick prayer for the best outcome. I know that I’ve trained hard, ate well and slept well, so I always just ask Him to bless my hard work, and then a calmness can come over me, and I’ll just do the best that I can that day.”