Ridge High’s Emily Thompson Breaks 2 National HS Records at a Meters Dual Meet

Ridge High School vs. Bridgewater-Raritan

• January 3, 2023
• Bridgewater YMCA, Bridgewater, New Jersey
• Short Course Meters (25 meters), High School Dual Meet
• Results

While her team came up short in the scoring, Ridge High School junior Emily Thompson broke a pair of National High School Records earlier this week in a dual meet against Bridgewater-Raritan High.

Raritan won the meet 89-81 to give Ridge their first loss of the season. Thompson, a junior, won all four of her events on the day, however, which included her two national record-setting swims.

First, in the 200 IM, Thompson swam 2:13.62. That broke the 2020 record of 2:13.76 set by Katie McClintock of Mainland Regional High School, which is also located in New Jersey. That swim also breaks the overall record, with the Independent Schools Record still belonging to Ellie Waldrep of The Baylor School in Tennessee (2:16.88 in 2019).

A few races later, Thompsons swam 1:00.19 to win the 100 fly by more than 8 seconds. In the process, she broke the National Public High School Record of 1:00.57 set by Samantha Woodward of Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Oklahoma. Woodward went on to a successful career at Stanford where she earned 22 collegiate All-America honors. She was also a 2012 Olympic Trials semifinalist and represented the US at the 2011 World University Games.

2020 US Olympian Claire Curzan remains the Independent and Overall High School Record holder at 57.08 set in November 2021.

“I was so honored to break the records of such fast and successful swimmers,” Thompson told SwimSwam after her record-breaking performance. “I am very proud of myself as this has been a goal of mine for a long time, and am so appreciative of all of the congratulations I have received.

“This has been a great season so far, and I am excited to continue racing alongside my Ridge teammates going into Conferences, Counties, State Finals, and Meet of Champions!”

Thompson is the defending New Jersey High School State Champion in both the 100 yard fly and 200 yard IM, breaking State Records in each. She also represented the US at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, where she finished 12th in both the 200 fly and the 200 IM.

“This year, we had the NISCA records in the back of our minds as a reachable goal,” her Ridge High School coach Melanie Dupuis said. “We don’t swim short course meters often so she took the opportunity in our dual meet on Tuesday vs Bridgewater High School to break those records.

“High School swimming is a team sport through and through and Emily is a tremendous asset to the team. Although she always comes into the season with individual goals in mind I know that she puts the team first and is willing to swim any event any time. It was a lot of fun to watch her achieve one of those individual goals while also giving her all for the team.”

Thompson also trains with the Greater Somerset YMCA in nearby Somerset, New Jersey. She is a an uncommitted juniors.

Short course meters, raced in a 25 meter pool, is an approved course for high school competition in the United States, but is by-far less-competed as compared to short course yards, raced in a 25-yard pool. The Olympic distance pool of 50 meters is not approved for high school competition in the United States and no official records are kept.

New Jersey hosts both a team championship tournament in February and an individual state championship in early March. This year, the state’s “Meet of Champions” (the individual championship) will be hosted on March 4th and 5th at GCIT.

Other Meet Highlights:

• Erica Maltsev won both the 100 free (58.69) and 200 free (2:05.37) for the victorious Panthers. She also anchored the team’s winning 200 meter free relay.