Winning the 100-meter freestyle Cherry Bowl was nothing new for 17-year-old Barclay Farm swimmer Patrick Gillooly.
In 2014, Gillooly won the 15 to 18-year-old men’s 100-meter freestyle easily, besting Danny Aronson by more than a second with a time of 0:53.25.
Gillooly was pleased with the win, but he wanted to do more than just defend his title at his home pool in Cherry Bowl 2015. He wanted to swim faster in the event than anyone in his generation.
Gillooly achieved this goal in the 2015 edition of the men’s 100-meter freestyle, winning the event with a time 0:52.78, and breaking one of the longest-standing Cherry Bowl records. Gillooly bettered the previous record mark of 0:52.91 set by Sean Killion of Old Orchard Swim Club in 1986.
Gillooly said he had been looking forward to this year’s Cherry Bowl for the past year. He knew how close he came in 2014 and knew he had the ability to shave off a few tenths of a second to set a new record.
“Last year when I swam at Woodcrest at Cherry Bowl, I was just barely off it,” Gillooly said. “So I thought, my pool next year. I’m so happy that I got it.”
Breaking the mark at his home pool made the win extra special for Gillooly. He said swimming at Barclay Farm was an advantage he had over some of the event’s other fast swimmers such as Aronson and Duncan Brookover of Old Orchard.
“I was feeling more comfortable in my own pool and knowing the area,” he said. “That was honestly the biggest advantage.”
Gillooly said missing the record in 2014 wasn’t a big disappointment. He used the mark as a motivator to swim faster times this season.
“I knew in my heart that I had two years left, so I’m not going to worry about it,” he said. “I swam well, I finished first, and I just told myself I’m going after it next year.”
Prior to this summer, Gillooly was tearing up the pool for the Cherry Hill East Cougars. Gillooly was one of the state’s fastest swimmers in the 100-yard freestyle during his junior season in 2014–15. He qualified for the NJSIAA meet of champions in the event and advanced to the A final, where he finished in fourth place with a time of 0:47.13. Gillooly was also a key contributor in Cherry Hill East’s Public A state championship last year, winning both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races in the championship meet against Westfield.
Having succeeded on some of the biggest stages in the past, there were no nerves for Gillooly entering the pool at Cherry Bowl.
“I had already done it once,” he said. “I just got after it and proved to everyone that I’m capable of doing what everyone expects of me.”
Cementing his name in the Cherry Bowl record book was a proud moment for Gillooly. However, he isn’t stopping there. His next goal is to break the Tri-County Swimming Pool Association record of 0:50.18 set by Jason Rosenbaum of Riverdel Swim Club in Riverside back in 1991.
