Steinert High School sophomore Maddie Horner competes during a meet for the Spartans this year.
In the long history of Steinert High School swimming, many Spartans have put up outstanding seasons.
While it cannot be said for certainty that Maddie Horner had the greatest of them all this year, her 2013-14 campaign would certainly have to be in any argument.
The sophomore won every individual event in Steinert’s dual meets and led the Spartans in total points earned for the second straight year. Horner had just one race this season in which she did not win—and that is when she came in second to Mercer County Meet MVP Katie O’Rourke in the 100 free at the counties. She also won the MCT freestyle.
It doesn’t end there.
Horner currently holds four school records—this year she broke her own 100 freestyle record, and set the 200 free mark. The 200 and 400 free relay teams of herself, Chelsea Ackerson, Maggie Herbert and Hailey Thayer re-set both of their records. Although she did not place, Horner qualified for the NJSIAA Individual Championships in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle and both relays.
And since her high school season also overlaps with her club season at the Hamilton Aquatics Club, let’s throw in the fact Horner qualified for eight events in the Spring Nationals, scheduled to be held the last weekend in March.
Don’t even ask if that’s all there is, or Steinert coach Jen Smith will be glad to oblige.
“I could go on and on,” Smith said. “She does all of this and maintains excellent grades and is absolutely the most humble athlete I have come across in my 14 years of coaching multiple sports.”
And then Smith went on and on, but was worth listening to. She called Horner’s accomplishments “unbelievable” for a swimmer at any age, let alone a sophomore.
“She has the drive of an athlete, she’s well mannered, she’s an all-around great kid in all different facets. Academically, socially, as a teammate.”
Horner broke both of her individual school records, plus one relay record in the Mercer meet. That came from swimming against good competition pushing her, but Horner noted that she got that in Steinert practices as well.
“Training with fast people like I do, I always want to improve,” she said. “It makes me go faster in practice. I like to have a good race, and when I’m swimming it really pushes me having fast girls with me.”
Horner said she is probably proudest of winning the 200 county title, as she expected to place second.
“I took a lot of time off my 200 from last year,” she said. “I didn’t expect to swim it at counties until I dropped a lot of time in one of our meets.”
Horner said the improvement was a result of working on her start and turns with new HAC coach and Rider University grad Julian Henson.
And while Horner is one of several HAC swimmers on Steinert, one of her best characteristics is that she easily embraces the non-club swimmers. Smith said Horner attended Steinert practices on HAC off-days and always checked in with the team.
“Even though she swims club and is not with us all the time, when she is with us, she’s part of the team,” Smith said. “She makes sure the other girls and guys who are non-club swimmers are all together with the club swimmers, and there’s no dividing us.”
One of her favorite things about the season is that Steinert made it to the NJSIAA Central B state meet.
“She really wants to be part of the high school team, which is nice to see,” Smith said.
Horner insists that when she is representing the green and white, she is truly concerned with how things play out.
“I want to make sure that the non-club swimmers feel that I care about Steinert as much as they do,” she said. “They work so hard, and I want them to see I’m working hard with them.”
No one will ever accuse Horner of loafing. Her work ethic has made her one of the most versatile swimmers in the Colonial Valley Conference.
“Probably her 200 is her best event, but she can swim everything, which is rare,” Smith said. “Any place we need to put her she can swim and do well. She will break some more records before she’s done. When she goes to college she will do whatever they want.”
She loves butterfly and freestyle, but the backstroke is also growing on her.
“I like mixing it up, doing different things; it’s more fun that way,” Horner said.
What makes Horner so unique is that she truly is and athlete who hides her talents well. Out of the pool, she is quiet and soft-spoken but always pleasant and smiling. The soul of a ruthless competitor is nowhere to be seen.
Then she gets in the water, and she’s like the Hulk.
“She has attitude,” Smith said. “She’s not a cocky athlete where she’s like ‘Nobody can touch me.’ She’s very mild mannered about her ability, but she’s just so fierce in the water.
“She knows where everybody is in the water at all times. She knows who’s in front of her, who’s behind her, and what she has to do to get ahead. She’s a very intelligent athlete and so modest about it. Any coach would be happy to have her.
When she is not swimming, Horner is a member of the Steinert Key Club and has also helped her mom coaching Special Olympics basketball and tennis.
“I just love the people doing that,” she said. “I’m like the team cheerleader. They all just do their best and they’re always so happy when they’re doing that stuff.”
Horner said she might like to dabble in coaching in the future and is looking to go into the medical field—namely, neurology.
“I don’t know why,” she said. “I just like it.”
If her work with the human brain matches her ability in the pool, there will be plenty of healthy minds out there in the future.
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