St. Rose’ Cullen breaks two records at the Monmouth County Swim Championships

Molly Cullen came incredibly close to breaking the 50 free throw and 100 free throw records at last year’s Monmouth County Championships.

Since this was her last season, she kept telling herself that had to do it. She has worked all offseason to get to this moment.

On Saturday she kept her word.

Cullen broke two 10-year-old records at the Monmouth County Championships in Neptune, swimming 23.06 in the 50-meter free and 50.71 in the 100-meter free.

Last year she managed 23.73 and 51.89 in both disciplines. The previous records were held by Wall’s Danielle Griggs, who swam 23.51 and 51.38 in 2015.

“My dad and I looked at the psychological report earlier this week and planned what we were going to do. And I thought I’ll get the file this week. “I knew I could do it because I’ve been through these times before, but not at a high school meet and not rested or anything.”

“I’m just so excited,” Cullen added. “It’s a good feeling, especially because I feel like I’ve broken them enough that they’ll last a while longer.”

Of course, Cullen had a lot of nerves as she came to the competition without much rest due to her club and high school swimming commitments.

She has also been battling a shoulder injury for some time, which added to the stress of today’s competition.

Although she was seeded at 22.80 and 50.30 in both events, which would have been more than enough to break the record, the biggest challenge for her was overcoming the mental barrier that she could actually do it.

“I had only recently completed the times I was set for and was definitely a little nervous about not being able to perform so unrested. But the fact that I’m getting close to those times unrested definitely gives me a confidence boost and makes me excited for when I’m fully rested later in the season because I know I can do better later on.”

Cullen was second in the state in the 50 free and her time Saturday was even faster than last year’s Meet of Champions (23:15).

She plans to swim this event again at the MOC as her time on Saturday makes her qualify for the event for the third year in a row. She’s still not sure whether to swim the 100 free or the 100 back in the MOC.

Cullen was also a force in the relays, leading St. Rose to a second-place finish in the 200 FR (1:41.18) as she led the relay team that also included Abigail Condon, Keira Whitetaker and Lucy Annitto. The same group also took third place in the 200 MR (1:50.03).

Corey Annan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow or message him on Twitter/X @coreyannan360.

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