Donovan not complaining about her coverage

Some athletes may have a contentious relationship with the press, but that is not the case with Megen Donovan of Archbishop Wood. That is because, when she is not setting records in the pool for the Vikings, she is the press.

Donovan is the sports editor of the school paper. She has not written any stories about all her accomplishments, however.

“I'm really pretty humble,” she said. “I'm not really into focusing attention on myself. I wouldn't write about myself.”

That is not to say Donovan, a junior, hasn't created a lot of news the paper could report. In the Stroudsburg Invitational last month, Donovan broke meet records in the 500 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.

She has the fastest time in the 500 freestyle in the Philadelphia Catholic League this season by a margin of almost eight seconds faster than her nearest competitor, has the best time in the league in the breaststroke and is only .06 of a second behind Christine Swiker of Archbishop Ryan for fastest 200 IM.

“The coach said college coaches look at the junior year the most when recruiting so I'm glad I'm doing well,” said Donovan. “I had a 5:25 last year when I won the PCL (in the 500 freestyle) and I'm already at 5:13. I'm pretty excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”

Donovan was a good swimmer for the Maplewood Swim Club and Our Lady of Good Counsel's CYO team (where she was named the school's scholar-athlete), but she admits she really did not dedicate herself until the last few years.

As a freshman at Wood, she joined the Energy club team in Langhorne coached by Bill Trabosh. The intensity level was something she was not used to.

“At Energy they work you real hard, and when I was a freshman, I wasn't prepared,” said Donovan. “But now I'm much more focused on swimming. It used to be just a fun thing when I was younger.

“Bill Trabosh has really worked me hard the last couple of years and I think that's why I've gotten better.”

Energy conducts practices in the morning and afternoons six days a week and Donovan regularly attends them even when Wood has practice.

“(Wood coach Charlie Stilwell) is perfectly OK with me going to their practices; he knows they'll work me hard there,” said Donovan. “When I go to the Wood practice, it is more like a social thing where I can be with my friends, although I have made some good friendships at Energy, too.”

Stuart London can be reached at (215) 345-3070 or slondon@phillyBurbs.com.

January 30, 2006 6:52 AM