Hasbani sets eyes on 2008 Olympics

Every athlete peaks at some point in his career, reaching a plateau he physically cannot surpass.

Don't tell junior Meir Hasbani. A decade and a half after he started swimming, Hasbani keeps getting better, slowly but steadily climbing toward greatness. He can't yet tell just how high the mountain he's climbing will reach, and he has no intention of finding out any time soon.

If Hasbani has his way, he'll keep methodically training and improving until he reaches his ultimate goal: competing for the Israeli national team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

At the rate he's developing, Hasbani may very well reach that goal.

Hasbani's swimming has not been marked by the extreme slumps and high points many athletes face. Instead, his strokes and his racing have shown consistent development since he began swimming at the age of six.

As a freshman at New Trier High School in the North Shore Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Ill., Hasbani took 30th place at the Illinois state meet. From there, his training showed in his performance as he placed 15th, fifth and eventually first in his successive years of high school.

"I wasn't usually the fastest in my age group when I was younger," Hasbani said. "But eventually I kept dropping time while other people just stopped."

Hasbani's decision to come to Princeton after high school was an easy one.

"It was really just the recruiting trip where I felt the most comfortable," Hasbani said. "Plus, people didn't need to trash-talk the other schools — Princeton just sold itself."

Head coach C. Rob Orr also played a pivotal role in Hasbani's decision to become a Tiger, as he did for so many members of the swim team.

"No one ever said anything bad about Rob; everyone seemed to love him," Hasbani said. "You really can't see a team glow as much as we do about Rob and not understand that there's something different about him."

Under Orr's guidance, Hasbani has continued his steady march of progress. At the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet during his freshman year, he exploded off the blocks to take first place in three events.

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"It was the race of my life," Hasbani said. "No one expected it — not even me."

As a freshman, he qualified for the NCAA championship meet and won the 200-yard butterfly at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships.

Last year as a sophomore, he added several more titles to his already lengthy list of accomplishments, winning the 400 individual medley race at Easterns. Clearly, his collegiate career has been no hindrance to the consistent development he has shown since the age of six.

"Meir has shown some radical improvement in the IM," Orr said. "He needs to work on the breaststroke a bit, but he'll get there."

This year, Hasbani is looking to lead Princeton in both the butterfly and the IM.

"The butterfly in particular requires an added degree of mental toughness," Hasbani said. "I like to try to push people to do fly with me — I really try to motivate people."

Though he is known for consistently being the last one to jump into the pool each morning, Hasbani makes his impact felt once he hits the water.

"Meir is a very strong leader," Orr said. "He's somewhat of a quiet leader — a leader by example — but he's an excellent motivator in the pool."

Hasbani's leadership is going to be critical for this year's squad.

"We're depending on the underclassmen a lot more than we ever have this year. I think that's a testament to our freshman class and how fast they are," Hasbani said.

Hasbani has a number of goals for this year's crop of Tiger swimmers. Seeing the team place in the top 20 in the country is his top priority. In addition to the team goals, though, he has his personal ambitions — and earning All-America honors tops his list.

"I would love to walk around DeNunzio and see my name hanging on the wall," Hasbani said.

At the rate he is progressing, Hasbani's goals may soon be a reality.