Two weeks ago, Syracuse swimmer Catrina Roth rewrote history at the Nike Cup by setting a school-record time of 2:02.13 in the 200-yard backstroke.

It lasted 15 days. At the USA Swimming Short Course National Championships in Atlanta this past weekend, a series of individual events with no team score, the junior broke records on an event-to-event basis.

Saturday, Roth beat her own record in the 200, touching the wall at 2:01.66. This came two days after she eclipsed Randi Beaulieu’s four-year standing 100-yard backstroke record, with a time of 56.53 seconds. That lasted one day. In the finals Friday, Roth topped herself at 56.50 seconds.

And she wasn’t done. Make it four records in four days.

Syracuse fielded 19 swimmers at nationals, which featured 16 Olympians and more than 1,000 athletes, including Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin. Despite swimming against such big-name competition, the performances of Roth in both individual and relay events stood out.

Roth teamed with sophomore Masha Glukhova and the freshman duo of Natalie Mazzetta and Katlin O’Hara in the 400-yard medley relay to break a 1998 record by 0.43 seconds. Their time of 3:51.07 was good for 16th out of 47 teams and was one of the eight Syracuse events that improved upon Nike Cup times. The Orange men’s 400-yard medley relay foursome of Arda Isiksalan, Kuba Kotynia, Boldizsar Kiss and Alex Taraskin finished 11th out of 24 teams at 3:21.64.

Those who did not attend nationals at Georgia Tech traveled to the Nutmeg Invitational at Yale. The Orange will now undergo a 54-day layoff before it travels to Seton Hall for a meet Jan. 26.

‘Records are credit to yourself and a credit to the people who came before you,’ Syracuse swimming and diving coach Lou Walker said. ‘People say, ‘Records are meant to be broken,’ but my feeling is that records are a tribute to the people who came before you and the work that you put in.’

This is the exact case with Roth, who was Beaulieu’s teammate last season.

‘It helped training with Randi because we were always close in practice,’ Roth said. ‘Having someone who is a training partner is really helpful.’

Another key factor: a clear bill of health. For the past eight years, Roth hasn’t known what it feels like to be 100 percent. Freak accidents have been the norm in her daily life.

In eighth grade, a student was shoved into Roth, and she dislocated her knee. It sidelined her for the entire season and set the stage for a recurring injury. Since nothing holds the knee intact, Roth’s knee often slides out of place. Last year, it popped out after she sat up in her couch and she fell to the ground. Later in the season, it slid out again when Roth simply climbed into her bed. To date, she still feels her kneecap shake beneath her skin on flip turns.

In addition to this injury bug that refuses to retreat, Roth said random tendinitis often flares up in her ankles and elbows. An injury-riddled past made nationals that more satisfying.

‘Knock on wood, this is the first season I haven’t had anything go wrong,’ Roth said. ‘So, doing well was (satisfying). Usually, my knee moves out of place around the Big East Tournament, so I’m still a little worried. I just have to do a lot of rehab and weight training, and I ice and take Ibuprofen whenever I feel a twinge.’

Right now, Roth is riding a high wave of emotion, but she knows that in three months, a low tide will sweep in. Her current success is bittersweet as the team will be cut after this season.

‘It’s also kind of sad,’ Roth admitted. ‘I was excited at first about the records, but it stinks that for my senior year I won’t be able to see what I can do as I keep improving.’

Her current goals are concrete: earn a ‘B’ cut time and jargon for a time good enough to merit consideration for selection into the NCAA Championships. She isn’t far from reaching this standard of 2:00.83 in the 200-yard backstroke. Walker believes her commitment in the weight room could take her to this level, even with the team’s impending layoff.

‘I don’t believe she has reached her full potential,’ Walker said. ‘If she continues her tremendous work ethic, and is going to because it has yielded results, then she will keep getting better this year. It will be fun to see how far that takes her.’

Published on December 3, 2007 at 12:00 pm