Encore performance: Lake Wales' Mary Leigh Hardman won a 3rd state swimming title

Mary Leigh Hardman made a splash last season in her first high school swimming season like no Polk County swimmer before by winning two state titles.

"I think the bar for myself was the highest it could be," she said.

So what could she do for an encore?

The Lake Wales sophomore fell short of repeating as a two-time state champion. Still, she won her third state title in the 50-yard freestyle then finished second by one-tenth of a second in the 100 finals.

Hardman is The Ledger's 2021 Girls Swimmer of the Year.

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After just two years of high school, Hardman already is one of the county's most accomplished swimmers ever.

Her three state titles already give her more titles than any other Polk County girl. Kathleen's Monica Geohagan, Lakeland's Edith Williams and Bartow's Susie Thayer and Annie Lett each have two.

Only Hardman, Geohagan and Lett won titles in back-to-back years, but only Hardman, with her win in the 50 free, successfully defended her state title.

Her success as a freshman gave her a different mindset this season.

"It was a lot of pressure, but I just kept telling myself, 'If you don't win both of your events, that's perfectly fine,'" she said. "I was very happy for (Estero's) Giuliana Carlini. She won the 100. She was a senior, and that was probably a really great thing for her. I'm happy for her."

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Hardman's sophomore season was a learning experience too. In her freshman season, she dominated the postseason, winning the 50 free and 100 free in all three postseason meets – districts, regionals and state.

This year was different.

After sweeping her events again at the Polk County meet, Hardman took second in both her events in the district meet, as Hardee's Veronica Shulman edged her each time, 25.27 to 25.42 in the 50 free and 54.06 to 54.08 in the 100 free.

"I went in expecting to qualify (for regionals)," she said. "It's not something you always want to do, but it was on the basis of last year. I was disappointed (of not winning) in that moment."

Her focus still was her performance at the state meet.

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At the region meet, she tried to adjust her stroke and ended up finishing third in the 50 free at 24.59.

"It threw me off because it's not what I'm used to," she said. "It probably wasn't a good idea. I probably would have gone faster had I not done that. So after that, I learned from that mistake and swim like I normally do."

She doesn't bend her left arm like her right arm when she's swimming, which is unusual.

"It's what got me two state titles, so I'll take it," she said.

It's something her coaches have tried to get her to change at times.

"But sometimes I feel like that if they were to change it, it would throw me off," she said. "They mock me at times for that. I think it's funny. There have been times we've tried to work on it."

Hardman went back to her normal stroke and won the 100 free in 52.67.

The state finals in both events were as close as they can be.

Hardman qualified second in the 50 free in 24 seconds then out-touched Cape Coral's Madison Lehman, 23.82 to 23.83, in the final.

In the 100 free, Hardman qualified tied for first with Carlini in 51.71. In the finals, Carlini swam 51.43 to Hardman's 51.53.

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Hardman's winning time in the 50 free was faster than her time last year of 23.88. Her time in the 100 free was just shy of the 51.49 she swam last year.

"They're not exactly where I want them to be, but at this point, they're pretty good," she said. "I did my best time in the spring."

Hardman swims year-round in club swimming and trains to peak for big club meets in the spring.

So with three state titles in two years and two years of high school remaining, what's left?

"The expectations are pretty high," she said. "A lot of people look at me and say, oh, she's won two years in a row, let's see how she does this year (next year as a junior). But I don't pressure myself. But it's definitely a big thing to accomplish by my sophomore year. I'm very proud. We'll see how next year goes."

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Girls swimming: Lake Wales sophomore Mary Leigh Hardman won a 3rd state titel