Profile: Huron’s Annaliese Streeter takes aim at longstanding varsity record
In 1978, “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees, “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones and Bob Seger’s “Still the Same” were among the big hits on the juke box while “Superman,” “Grease” and “Animal House” were playing at the local theaters.
At the same time in a swimming pool in Ann Arbor, a young high school swimmer named Judi Richardson was splashing her way into the record books. Richardson set the Huron High School varsity record in the breaststroke with a time of 1:05.05 back in 1978.
A lot has changed since then – some for the better (computers, cell phones & Netflix) and some for the worse (the Stones haven’t put out a great record since Some Girls). But one thing hasn’t changed – Richardson’s record.
After all these years, the time of 1:05.5 in the breaststroke has not been improved up by a Huron swimmer. But that is about to change thanks to Annaliese Streeter, who has been looking at Richardson-1:05.5 on the record board for years.
At this past weekend’s SEC Red Swim/Dive Championship meet at Pioneer, Streeter took second place in the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.65 – yeah, she’s getting close. She hopes to knock off the .15 at this weekend’s Division 1 MHSAA State Finals at the Holland Aquatic Center.
“I have been looking at that record every day in practice for the past three years and I told myself freshman year that I will be able to get it by the end of senior year,” Streeter says. “I went into this season with a very open mindset. I have gone faster than the record once, so I knew that it was possible – I just needed to do it during high school season.”
She kind of likes the constant reminder of her goal staring right back at her every time she jumps in the pool.
“I still continue to look at the time on the board every day,” said Streeter, who is seated seventh for the D-1 State Finals. “It has been a big motivation for me during practices. I am really excited to swim the 100 breaststroke at the end of the season and hopefully get that record.
“I think that just about everyone on the team knows that I have been going for that record for a while and having them all behind my lane and cheering when I am swimming is a really good way to keep me going throughout the whole race.”
Streeter is having an excellent junior season for the River Rats. Her second place in the breaststroke was the highest swimming finish for Huron at the ultra-competitive SEC Red meet. She also was fourth in the 200 IM (2:11.08).
Streeter also was a member of Huron’s speedy 200 free relay team that took second in 1:40.13. That relay team of Streeter, Emily Tran, Kathryn Hemmila and Zannah Baker also will be swimming this weekend in Holland and are seated eighth heading into the D-1 State Finals.
Huron’s 200 medley relay (Streeter, Tran, Baker and senior/captain Anna Leone) also qualified for states with a 1:50.30.
It’s been a great season for the talented River Rats.
“This season has been really good overall,” Streeter confirms. “I have gone faster times in my events than I went last year and I am continuing to improve each meet. Everyone has worked really hard this season and it has definitely already started to show. I think that our team has grown so much this year and it should be a really good end to the season.”
The daughter of Dave and Katherine Streeter, Annaliese has been swimming since she was about 6 years old and has been swimming on Club Wolverine for the past three years.
She hopes to continue swimming in college but that will depend on where she goes.
“I think I want to go to a school out of Michigan but not too far away,” she says. “I think I want to go into some field around Kinesiology so academics also plays a big part in my decision of where to go.”
Since she’s still only a junior, she has plenty of time to figure it out. This weekend Streeter will be focusing on a different kind of time – the kind that gets your name printed up on the wall in the pool.
“My goals for the end of the season are to get a best time in the 200 IM and in the 100 breaststroke and to break the school record,” she says. “I just need to keep my motivation up and not overthink my races. I tend to overthink a lot when the big meets come around and it really affects how I swim.”
While the breaststroke record at Huron has been “Still the Same” since 1978, Streeter hopes to be singing a different tune when she touches the wall in the finals of the 100 breaststroke in Holland on Saturday.
