The plus side to being a freestyle swimmer is that your race is over pretty darn quick. The down side is, it leaves little margin for error.
Jaden Potter understands that all too well, but still opts for the “go like heck all the time” races rather than repetitive laps in the pool.
“I prefer sprinting as it’s quick and exciting, and I’m much better at it than distance,” the Robbinsville High junior said. “In sprints I don’t have any room to mess up. If I were to mess up in distance by maybe going too slow in a 50 of the 500, I still have another 450 to make up for it.”
Potter was on point in every dual meet this year, taking first place in all seven 50 free races he swam in. He also had four firsts and one second in the 100 free, which is another race that doesn’t off a lot of “mess up” time.
For good measure, Potter made the 7-12 cut in the Colonial Valley Conference Championship, taking eighth in the 50 and ninth in the 100. His best times in each event (for yards) is 23.74 in the 50 and 52.83 in the 100.
“I think it was a pretty good season overall,” Potter said. “Of course I could’ve done better in some areas, but I’m still happy with how everything turned out. I’m proud of my placements at CVCs, and even though I didn’t get any best times I was still consistent and swam fast.”
Ravens coach Annie Menninger feels that Potter has the right temperament to be a sprinter.
“I think sprinters — and I see this in Jaden — you can’t disappointed in your swims because it’s so easy to go slow,” she noted. “It’s so hard to get a best time, it’s so hard to go fast in the 50, you breathe in the wrong place and go two tenths slower than you normally would.
“Jaden in the 50 is not one to be disappointed in a swim. After a race he’ll say ‘I’m gonna change this for the next race and try to do a little better.’”
The coach added that swimming the 50 is almost like an adventure, as one tries to navigate literally through choppy waters.
“Every race is different, obviously, and every race has its challenges,” Menninger said. “Being in a 50 you can’t always see who’s right next to you, all you see is splashes. It could come down to the very last stroke, tenths of seconds in a race like that.
“You don’t really have time to think ‘OK what’s my race strategy? I’m gonna hang with this person and if they seem like they’re backing off a bit I can go a little faster?’ You can’t do that. It’s kind of all or nothing.”
It was pretty much “all” for Potter this season; though he return to the 500 – which he did mostly in his first two seasons – to take second against Hamilton West. He also took second in his two 200 freestyle swims, won his only breaststroke race and had a first and fourth in his two butterflies.
“He’s been with us for three years and he has improved a lot over that time,” Menninger said. “Definitely the 50 and the 100 are his strongest events. But he can pretty much score points in anything we need him in.”
And he’s willing to do just that.
“He’s very good with the team,” the coach continued. “He has his events he likes but he’ll never question if I put him in a different stroke. He takes every event as an opportunity to race and do better and improve. He has a good mindset in that way.”
It’s all about being a competitor, which Potter definitely is. He played football for one year just to try something new and he had some free time, but “I wasn’t taking it seriously,” and he turned his complete attention to swimming.
He adopts the team-first attitude in swimming even though it is an individual sport. Thus, any event Menninger asks him to do, she gets Potter’s best effort. There is no pouting.
“Even if I’m not the best at a stroke, I’ll still do my best to win the race,” he said.
That attitude is not lost on his coach, who marvels at Potter’s grind-it-out attitude.
“It’s funny, you can tell the difference between an athlete and a non-athlete,” Menninger said. “He’s definitely an athlete. No matter what place he’s in, if he’s in first by a lot or if he’s in a relay that’s losing by a lot he gives it his all no matter what.
“It’s nice to see; especially since he’s not looking to go his best times in all his races but he has that mentality of ‘Well what if I out-touch somebody or what if there’s somebody next to me that I don’t see.’ He’s constantly pushing himself.”
That kind of attitude serves him well as anchor of the 200 and 400 free relay teams, which he competes on with Henderson Han, Prateek Vinnakota and Quinn Finnegan. The group took fifth in the 200 and seventh in the 400 at the CVC championships.
“I contributed well in the relays and so did my teammates,” Potter said. “I’m proud of our placements this season.”
Potter can’t remember a time where the pool wasn’t like a second home.
“Ever since I was young I’ve loved swimming and being in the water,” he said. “I learned to swim at a young age and my parents put me in British swim school to enhance my strokes.”
In fifth grade Potter started with the Peddie Aquatics Swim Club and has remained there ever since, except for some time off last year.
“I stopped swimming club last year around March because I needed a break from it,” Potter said. “During last swim season I only practiced with my high school team, and went back to club in October.”
Potter credits his coaches both at Peddie and RHS for “helping me get to where I am today.”
Unlike some club swimmers, he takes an interest in the high school program besides just competing in meets. With teammates looking up to him due to his success, Potter takes the time to help someone with technique if he sees anything they can improve upon.
“He definitely has matured a lot over the last couple years and I can see his leadership coming out, especially this year,” Menninger said. “Sometimes the club swimmers tend to come to the six practices they’re required to be at, and they’re not there every day. Jaden comes more often than he needs to. He does extra practices with us.
“This season he stuck with Robbinsville for the season so he’s there every day, which is good. He kind of helped out bonding with the younger swimmers.”
Although sprints are his strength, the speedster found himself doing mainly distances his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Ravens.
“His first two years there were some other sprinters on the team, and honestly the 500 is the hardest event to fill, there’s a lot of competition across the teams with that,” Menninger said. “There’s lot of differences in speeds and stuff like that. He was definitely needed because he could hold his own in those events and stay close to anybody that was in the race and get a first or second. With his competitive mindset he does his best to pull out a win.”
Outside of RHS swimming, Potter participates in the school’s Black Culture Club and last summer worked as a lifeguard at JCC Abrams Summer Camp.
Although he has another year of high school remaining, his graduation goals are mapped out.
“I’m definitely planning on swimming in college,” said Potter, who hopes to major in business or finance. “I don’t know any specifics yet. I just know that I want to keep swimming after high school.”
He certainly is setting a strong foundation for that.
Swimmer Jaden Potter is pictured in the pool at Robbinsville High School. The junior sprint freestyler captured seven 50-yard freestyle victories this season and helped lead the Ravens to a strong showing at the Colonial Valley Conference Championships. ,
Robbinsville High School swimmer Jaden Potter.
