Former Mercyhurst Prep swimmer Georger helped start PIAA success streak for District 10

Marie Georger won the first of three straight PIAA Class 2A girls 100-yard backstroke finals at the state swimming and diving meet in March 2009.

The Mercyhurst Prep freshman was aware of another streak that ended with that result at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. She became District 10’s first state swimming champion since 2003.

What Georger didn't know until recently was the sustained success northwestern Pennsylvania swimmers and divers have achieved since then. The district has had at least one PIAA gold medalist, be it an individual swimmer or diver, a relay or a team, dating to the year she earned the first of her five.

“It feels good knowing District 10 has had that kind of recognition and representation,” Georger said. “I’m excited to see how (swimming) has grown over those years.”

Georger’s kickstart to that streak, her ensuing accomplishments for the University of Michigan and an appearance in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials, are certain to be mentioned before her official enshrinement in the Metropolitan Erie chapter of the Pennsylvania State Sports Hall of Fame.

The chapter’s banquet and induction ceremony will take place June 26 at the Zem Zem Shrine Club, 2525 W. 38th St.

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Big adjustment for Big Ten

Georger, 31, will return to Erie from her home in Troy, Michigan, a Detroit suburb where she’s worked for PNC Bank since 2019. Georger serves as the branch’s vice president of investments.

Troy is less than an hour northeast of Ann Arbor, where Georger attended Michigan and competed as a Division I swimmer. Her five PIAA titles are significant reasons the Wolverines recruited her to swim at the NCAA’s highest level.

Besides Georger’s three state championships in the 100 back, she also started that leg for the Lakers’ victorious 200 medley relay in 2010 and finished first for its 200 individual medley in 2012. She owned 15 top-eight medals upon graduation from Mercyhurst.

However, Georger was conscious she’d be labeled just one more talented swimmer upon arrival at Michigan. There was zero guarantee her success in small school competition would translate to faster laps at longer distances during the Wolverines' Big Ten Conference duals and beyond.

“The transition was challenging,” Georger said. “The hardest thing was getting used to the intense training and high expectations that were set for you every day. Not just in the pool, but in the classroom. I knew for sure there was going to be an adjustment. I just didn’t know how hard of an adjustment it was going to be.

“I quickly learned.”

Although Georger said it took until her sophomore year before she fully acclimated to life as a Division I student-athlete, she also claimed that was the favorite of her four seasons with the Wolverines.

Georger finished 10th in the 200-yard backstroke (1 minute, 56.88 seconds) at the Big Ten’s 2014 meet. It tied for her best individual result in any collegiate event.

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Olympic opportunity

Even the chance to compete in the Olympics didn’t fully prepare Georger for the daily rigors at Michigan.

During a 2011 national junior meet, Georger recorded a time of 2:17.73 in the 200-meter backstroke. That performance, combined with those for the Lakers, warranted an invitation to try out for the American team that would compete in the 2012 Summer Games at London.

Georger had three months to train between her last lap in a PIAA meet and the U.S. trials at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. It paid off, as she chopped nearly 4 seconds (2:14.77) from her qualifying time.

The problem was 22 other swimmers had faster tapers.

Missy Franklin, two years younger than Georger, and taller, was the meet’s 200 back titlist at 2:06.12. Her gold-medal performance of 2:04.06 at London doubled as the world record at that time.

Georger took solace with her place and effort. There are no nagging what-ifs.

“I had a better time (in the 200 back) from when I went into it,” she said. “It would have been awesome to be on TV (for the trial’s final), but it’s still something unique to me as an athlete. It’s cool whenever coworkers ask me about that.”

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Positive pushing

Georger briefly returned home upon completion of her bachelor’s degree from Michigan. She studied and received a master’s in business from Mercyhurst University.

During those two years she also served as a graduate assistant to coach Curtis Robinette and the Lakers’ water polo program.

Robinette, a former NCAA Division II coach of the year honoree, died from cancer in 2021. The Toledo, Ohio, native was 41.

Fortunately for Georger, another formidable influence in her life will attend the June 26 ceremony. She studied for her master’s degree at the same school where her father has worked more than 40 years.

Daryl Georger is an assistant professor with Mercyhurst’s hospitality management department. The Hamburg, New York, native, who competed in football and wrestling for Cornell University, sensed his daughter’s interest in swimming when she was only 6.

Marie Georger remains grateful not only that her father psychologically pushed her to attain greatness in the pool, but positively pushed her.

“I think back to the times my dad and I spent together training outside of my swims,” Marie Georger said. “There was a lot of running up and down the stairs at Zurn Hall in Mercyhurst and a lot of time at the (Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine) pools at 2 a.m. We had that time as a father and daughter, but we also had that time as coach and student.

“Getting that competitive edge was hard, but it was definitely needed for my success.”

Top male swimmers: Meet the Times-News 2023-24 District 10 Boys Swimming/Diving All-Stars, Region All-Stars

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com . Follow him on X @ ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Former Mercyhurst Prep swimmer Georger helped start PIAA success streak for District 10