The Atlanta Dream held a pep rally at David T. Howard Middle School to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Sarah Paisley Owen, a freshman on the Midtown High School Swim and Dive team, ended her phenomenal freshman season by breaking two state records at the GHSA 4-5A state championship meet in the McAulley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech on February 7, 2024.
Not knowing what to expect in her first appearance at the state championship meet, Owen just wanted to make it to the finals and support her teammates. Instead, she swam a 22.65 in the 50-yard freestyle preliminaries, breaking the state record while securing her spot in the finals later that evening. She also swam a comfortable 100 freestyle preliminaries race securing the top seed for the final.
“In the morning, I was just trying to make finals and stretch it out,” she said. “In the 50 free, I saw that I was really close to the record, so I wanted to just go ahead and get it in the morning.”
That was how her morning began and she was just getting warmed up. Owen felt better going into her afternoon events with one goal already accomplished. In the 50-yard freestyle, she dropped her own state record to 22.25. Lowering her time from the morning session by .4 seconds and winning her first state championship victory.
“My start in the morning was a little slower than I wanted to be, so I adjusted that in the evening, and I think it was a good race,” she said. “I held my back half really well, which was another goal of mine.”
In the 100 freestyle, Owen shaved 1.7 seconds off her preliminary time (50.64) and broke Olympian Amanda Weir’s 2004 record (49.06) with a 48.94. Later in the meet, Owen’s 100-yard record was broken during the 4×100 freestyle relay. Owen did not compete in that final event because Midtown was disqualified during the preliminaries.
“I think my teammates were more excited than I was because it didn’t really set in that I broke this really cool state record that’s been there for 20 years,” Owen said. “My teammates, they’re just so supportive and I just love being around them. They were really excited for me and it was just a great environment.”
She didn’t realize until after her events, that her record-breaking performance happened on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
“Afterwards, I saw different posts about Women’s Sports Day and I thought that it was really cool that just happened to be the day that I broke the record,” she said. “I think it’s really inspiring to see things like that, so I really want to inspire other girls in the sport and in other sports that they can do things like this.”
Midtown Swim and Dive has been a competitive program and developed a number of impressive swimmers. They had a swimmer win gold at the state meet last season who went on to compete at the Division 1 level. The girls relay team won a bronze medal, and they also have a diver compete at the state meet who is signed to Dartmouth.
But what Sarah Paisley Owen has done as a freshman is special. In addition to the 50 free and 100 free, she also swims in the 200 and 400 free relays. In the 4 x 50 free relay finals, she recorded the fastest split (21.87 seconds) of the meet leading the team to a 3rd place finish.
“This is our very first time setting a state record,” Midtown High School head swim and dive coach Malaika Jordan said. “This is the first time that everyone who started in the prelims were able to come back for finals. We were really excited about that. Midtown’s swim and dive program is just getting better and better each year.”
Midtown took 16 swimmers, one diver and two alternates to the state championship meet this year. According to coach Jordan, the future is very bright for the program with mostly freshmen making up the girls’ team and an improved boys’ team with key seniors on the team.
After watching Owen break pool records throughout the season and ultimately the state records, coach Jordan and Midtown have a lot to look forward to.
“We’re already planning to put our G.O.A.T., SP (Sarah Paisley) in key positions, but we have a whole team that can rally around her or swim with her,” coach Jordan said. “We’re looking to be top-three. We’re really looking to be number one next year with our girls.”
| Swim Meet | Date | Event | Time | Notes |
| GA 13-14 Long Course State Championships | 07/15/23 | 100 meter freestyle | 56.78 | 1st place, 13-14 state record |
| Speedo Junior National Championship Irvine, CA | 08/04/23 | 50 meter freestyle | 25.61 | 6th place, Olympic Trials Qualifying Time, 13-14 state record |
| Speedo Winter Junior Championship East Columbus, Ohio | 12/07/23 | 50 yard freestyle | 22.21 | 6th place, 15-16 state record |
| Medeline June Brown Invitational at Marist | 12/15/23 | 50 yard freestyle | 23.05 | meet record |
| 53rd Metro Swimming and Diving Invitational at Westminster | 1/20/24 | 100 yard freestyle | 50.02 | meet record, All-American Qualifying time AA-A |
| APS City Championship Meet | 1/24/24 | 50 yard freestyle | 23.90 | meet record |
| GHSA 4-5A Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech | 2/7/24 | 50 yard freestyle | 22.25 | 1st place, gold medal, state record |
| GHSA 4-5A Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech | 2/7/24 | 100 yard freestyle | 48.94 | 1st place |
| GHSA 4-5A Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech | 2/7/24 | 200 yard freestyle relay | 21.87 (anchor split) | 3rd place, bronze medal, fastest split in the field. |
Coach Jordan’s exciting ambitions are quite realistic with Owen on the team. Not only is she also surrounded by other talented swimmers to compete with, but Owen has been knocking down goals since she began swimming competitively.
When she was younger, Owen’s first goal was to compete in a triathlon. In pursuit of this new challenge, she learned that she loved being in the water and competitive swimming. That led her to club swimming, which she has done for the last six years with Metro Atlanta Aquatics Club (MAAC). When she joined Midtown Swim and Dive, her reputation had preceded her, and coach Jordan was impressed from the first time she saw Owen hit the water.
“The buzz was all around that we have this phenomenal swimmer that will be coming to Midtown,” Jordan said. “Our first meet when she swam, all I remember is seeing these legs go “phphphphph” and I was like, ‘Look at those motorboats.’”
“When she hit the water, it was mind-blowing how fast she was. But not only how fast she is, but her overall package. She’s smart, nice, and hard-working,” she added. “Just everything about her just makes her the G.O.A.T., or we say the LeBron of the water. We’re just looking forward to what she’s going to do.”
Breaking the state record was on Owen’s list of goals heading into the season, and with each meet she crept closer and closer. Even after breaking a state record, she continues to set her goals higher.
“As far as high school swimming goes, I want to make my records faster and get records in other events,” she said. “I want to get my name on all of them.”
Even though the high school swim season is over, Owen still has another major event ahead on her calendar. She has qualified to compete in the 2024 Olympic Trials, which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 15.
“She’s at a 48.94 in ninth grade. She just turned 15. Come on?” Jordan said. “We’re excited. We’re ready to see world records being broken. Not just state. Not just national. You’ll see her later. You’ll see her name at the Olympics. Not just this one, but in many years to come. And we’ll say she’s APS, Midtown High.”
The young ladies at Howard Middle School were treated to a special assembly on National Girls and Women in Sports Day with a visit from the Atlanta Dream.
The city’s WNBA team came bearing gifts and spent the morning inspiring and encouraging the students at Howard Middle School to pursue their goals on and off the court.
“It’s important to celebrate women doing awesome things in every aspect,” Howard Middle School principal Tekeshia Hollis said. “This gives us another opportunity to teach girls how to shine, how to be confident, and what that means while still hitting the pavement to get equal rights for women in sports and women in other industries.”
After leading an exciting relay competition where a handful of girls were split into teams that raced to put on a WNBA-sized practice uniform and shoes before making a layup, Atlanta Dream president Morgan Shaw Parker and forward Nia Coffey joined Howard girls’ basketball coach Ben Abernathy and APS health and physical education coordinator Myss Johnson-Jelks for a panel discussion about their respective careers and how women can excel in male-dominated industries like sports.
“I didn’t really have this opportunity when I was in middle school and high school, so I just love to be able to give back in a different way and bring the fun and lessons of sports,” Coffey said. “Just reminding girls that opportunities are out there, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to the top levels. Just being in those environments, you can learn so many different things on and off the court.”
The Atlanta Dream’s visit to Howard Middle School on National Girls and Women in Sports Day meant a lot to students like Julianna Richman, an eighth-grader on Howard girls’ basketball team.
“It was really inspiring hearing how [Nia Coffey] got here and what it took,” Richman said. “It makes me want to continue to play basketball through high school and college.”
“When you’re younger, a lot of times, you get encouraged to do dance or cheer. It makes you not want to play anymore,” she added. “But then hearing that you have this whole day for you and that other women have gone through it too is really inspiring.”
National Girls and Women in Sports Day was a big success at Howard Middle School. The girls excitedly cheered for their classmates during the relay competition and got the chance to hear from women who forged their own way into a career in sports.
“One of our core pillars is empowering girls and women,” Atlanta Dream director of community impact Kelly Harper Lee said. “The reason why it’s important to come in and empower girls is because we know, in particular middle school girls, that’s the age where they tend to drop off playing sports, and we wanted to come in today to encourage them to play and stay in sports. And what better place to come than Howard, who has already been a longtime partner.”
