- December 26, 2024
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FPC junior Lucy Noble swam the 100-yard butterfly in a school-record time of 1:00.57. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast swimmer Lucy Noble had not competed in the 100-yard butterfly in a high school meet since her freshman season.
But on Sept. 22 the junior decided to try to break the school record in the event. She wound up adding her name to the record book for a fifth time.
“The fly was a special request,” coach Suzanne Bott said. “She said, ‘I want the record,’ and she blew it out of the water.”
Noble finished in 1:00.57 in a meet at New Smyrna Beach’s Aqua Park pool to break former teammate Micayla Cronk’s four-year-old mark of 1:00.92.
“I hadn’t swam the 100 fly since my first meet in my freshman year, which also was at New Smyrna Beach,” she said. “I had been feeling good at practice, so I said, ‘Why not try for it?’ That was the record my best time was closest to.”
“Their blocks aren’t great, so the dive wasn’t the best. The water was murky, so I couldn’t see much. ... Just getting my breaths right was the main thing.”
LUCY NOBLE
But the conditions weren’t exactly ideal for a record swim.
“Their blocks aren’t great, so the dive wasn’t the best,” she said. “The water was murky, so I couldn’t see much. I couldn’t see other people to pace with, so I was swimming against myself. Just getting my breaths right was the main thing.”
When Bott greeted Noble at the wall and told her she broke the record, Noble gave her a thumbs up. She already knew it.
“When she told me the time, I kind of felt like I was faster than that,” Noble said.
Noble already had four school records entering this season. She and Cronk, who is now a swimmer at the University of Florida, battled it out in the 100-yard breaststroke last season, going back and forth until Noble swam 1:11:08.
Noble also set the mark in the 50-yard freestyle at 24.31 seconds. And she shares the records in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays with Cronk, Michelle Marinez and Megan Hurley in the 400 and Cronk, Hurley and Paige McComb in the 200.
This season, Noble has competed in the 100 backstroke, the 100 freestyle, the 200 individual medley, the 100 fly and the two freestyle relays.
“She swims whatever we need her to,” Bott said. “Lucy’s a beast. Plus, she’s got that great personality. She’s the one who keeps everyone laughing.”
Noble’s events at state are the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. She finished 19th in prelims in both events at last year’s Class 4A state meet.
And offshore, she’s a champion. In August, Noble won all six of her junior events at the U.S. Lifesaving Association’s National Lifeguard Championships at South Padre Island, Texas. The following day, she won one event and medaled in three others in the women’s open competition.
Noble is hoping to picked for the USLA Junior National Team, which will compete in Japan.
