All-Region Girls Swimmer of the Year: Gabby Roy, Lewiston

Lewiston’s Gabby Roy swims the butterfly leg of the 200-yard medley relay during a swim meet against Edward Little/Leavitt at the Bates College pool in Lewiston on Feb. 2. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Gabby Roy began swimming competitively when she was 7 years old with the Twin City Swim Team. So the Lewiston freshman was excited to get in the pool at the high school level.

She made an impact in her first season with the Blue Devils, becoming the Class A state champion in the 100-yard butterfly and placing fifth in the 50-yard freestyle. Her big performances make Roy the Sun Journal All-Region Girls Swimmer of the Year.

“My goal was to beat my times, and I heard a lot of good things about it, how it’s really fun,” Roy said of her outlook heading into her first high school season. “I was just expecting a good time.”

Roy made a good impression on Lewiston coach Troy Boutin, who only knew Roy by name prior to the season.

“She quickly demonstrated her work ethic, her focus at practice — she has pretty high standards for herself as far as meeting and exceeding expectations, in terms of her workouts,” Boutin said. “One thing that’s beautiful with a swimmer like her is she loves swimming. She embraces the work because she enjoys it so much.”

Roy realized she could be competitive with the top swimmers in the state early in the season after competing in the 500 freestyle.

“I did a 500 early in the year and I got a good time that I wanted — I actually beat it by a couple of seconds,” Roy said. “I realized I was doing OK on my own. If I kept working and I’d get my personal times.”

Roy didn’t put too much pressure on herself when the three biggest meets of the season rolled around: the Lesley Martin and Chris Campbell Memorial Swim Meet, KVAC championships and the state championships.

She enjoyed those meets because she was able to watch other swimmers compete.

“I loved the big meets because I knew so many people from all the different teams,” Roy said. “It was fun to see them race.”

Boutin said Roy is competitive, and that watching other swimmers helps her get ready to race.

“You have to have the drive to win,” Boutin said. “You really need to be motivated by other people in the pool with you to do as well as Gabby does.”

At the Lesley Martin and Chris Campbell Memorial Swim Meet — the annual meet between Lewiston and Edward Little — she took first place in the 100 butterfly (1:05.95) and the 100 backstroke (1:09.06).

Roy then shaved off more than three seconds from her 100 butterfly time (1:02.69) to capture the KVAC championship. She also took second place in the 50 freestyle (25.94).

The second-place finish in the 50 free provided a confidence booster.

“I started with the 50 free, and I got the time I wanted, so I was really happy,” Roy said. “I think that encouraged me and kept my motivation up, and I cut a couple of seconds off my personal best.”

Roy didn’t realize she captured the 100 butterfly title for a couple of minutes until people came up to her to congratulate her.

Roy said Boutin prepared her and the rest of the team to swim their best at the end of the season.

“I did a lot of training through workouts outside of practice,” Roy said. “In practice, I just tried my best, worked hard and stayed focused. My coach did a really good job of tapering and getting my team ready.”

After winning the 100 butterfly at the state championship with a time of 1:02.50 and coming in fifth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.15, she soaked in her accomplishments.

“It was amazing,” Roy said. “It was cool to see my picture in the paper and everyone at school congratulating me.”

Boutin said he’s looking forward to helping Roy break the school record in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle and help her improve in other disciplines next season.

“She will break Monica Morin‘s 100 butterfly record, which has stood about 23 years — she will break that sometime during the regular season,” Boutin said. “She was pretty close to it this year. She will break Brooke Cloutier‘s record sometime in the regular season next year.

“I don’t think she will stop there. There’s a lot of room in the 100 free, 200 free, 500 free, 200 IM and 100 backstrokes. She has to develop her breaststroke and her backstroke a little more. I am looking forward to helping her become a well-rounded competitor in all the events.”