Devin Henry and Victoria Mesner have logged more than a few laps together. As teammates and co-captains of the Virginia Gators swim team, the duo trains 24 hours a week with the team’s elite Senior National group. With three predawn and five weeknight practices a week, plus five-hour workouts on Saturdays, their training schedule is not for the faint-hearted.
The girls’ dedication has paid off in record-breaking swims and college contracts with Division I schools. Henry has committed to William and Mary, while Mesner signed with Marshall University, having earned both academic and athletic scholarships.
Mesner plans on majoring in biomedical science, followed by graduate studies in Marshall’s pharmacy program. Henry has yet to decide on a major, but her strengths are math and science.
It won’t be the first time Henry and Mesner have competed for different schools. Although they’ve trained together for years under Gator coaches Doug Fonder and Greg Lake, Henry swam for the Hidden Valley Titans, while Mesner raced for the Northside Vikings. The schools are in different districts, but they face off at invitational meets and state championships.
Hidden Valley Head Coach Sheri Vaughn says, “Devin has been one of the most versatile swimmers in Hidden Valley’s history. She is the first Titan girl to qualify for the top eight at states in every event she swam for all four years. She’s always leading by example and always willing to do what was necessary to help the team. We could count on Devin giving 110 percent.”
Henry, who learned to swim at age two, is a Titan team captain and helped lead the women to back-to-back state championships in 2009 and 2010. A freestyler and individual medley swimmer, she belonged to two state-record-setting relay teams, one of which attained All-American status. As a Gator, Henry advanced to finals at the United States Swimming Sectional meet in Buffalo, N.Y., and qualified two years in a row for the National Club Swimming Association Junior National Championships.
Mensner’s Northside coach, Mich Peters, has high praise for her swimmer. “Victoria’s an incredible, incredible swimmer. She’s the third-fastest 500-yard freestyler in the state. I felt honored that she wanted to be a member of my team.” She notes that, even though Mesner worked out with the Gators, she also came to the high school practices and led stroke technique clinics for her Viking teammates.
Mesner, a distance freestyler and butterflier, was named Blue Ridge District Female Swimmer of the Year all four years of her high school career. Undefeated in the district the entire time, she also is a seven-time state finalist and holds five individual and three relay school records. As a Gator, Mesner qualified in multiple events for the NCSA Junior National Meet and, along with Henry, was part of the team that won the Long Course Sectional Meet in 2009.
The two swimmers met seven or eight years ago when Mesner joined the Gators, where Henry had been swimming since she was six years old. They became friends while training together.
Henry, who learned to swim when she was two, says, “We’re both pretty competitive when it comes to training. Neither of us really [competes in] the same events, so we don’t usually swim against each other. When we do, though, it’s a pretty good show.” A case in point: both swam the 500-yard freestyle at the high school state finals this year, where Mesner out touched Henry by just .29 seconds.
The two are close out of the pool, as well as in. Both attend St. John’s Episcopal Church, where they serve as altar guides at least once a month and volunteer during summer Bible school. Both agree that, even though they have very different personalities, they have a lot of fun together.
“I consider Devin one of my best friends,” Mesner says, “and I’d say that we always have each other’s back. My favorite thing is hanging out with her outside of swimming.”
Henry says, “I guess you could say that we’re kind of like magnets…opposites attract. We keep each other in check…we balance each other out…Victoria and I have basically become sisters over the years and that’s how it will probably always be. The name of our swim team may change, but we’ll always remain a part of each other…I’ll miss her.”
For now, though, there’s the long course season and the chance to log about 25,000 more laps together before parting ways.
By Sharon Nanz Sharon Nanz is a local freelance writer and an avid Masters swimmer.