Last August, U.S. swim team member Rebecca Soni upset Australia’s Leisel Jones to claim the gold medal — at the same time breaking the world record in the event — in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Olympics in Beijing with a time of 2:20.22.
This August, she did it again, this time breaking Jones’ three-year-old record of 1:05.09 world record in the breaststroke with her time of 1:04.84. The Plainsboro native did so at the semifinals of the world swimming championships in Rome last month.
Last year, during the Olympics, Soni went head-to-head with Jones in the 200-meter breaststroke, pulling out a strong lead in the finish, breaking Jones’ previous record of 2:20.54. All together, Soni capped off a successful run in the Olympics with three medals. In addition to the gold medal, she also took home two silver medals, one in the 100-meter breaststroke (won by Jones in what was then a world record time), and the other as part of the women’s 4×100 medley relay.
The 22-year-old High School North graduate, who never swam for North’s swim team because she was focused on training with the Scarlet Aquatic Club in Piscataway, moved to Plainsboro shortly before sixth grade from Freehold. Her mother is a nurse and her father is in real estate, but both moved to Arizona after Soni began college at USC, where she majored in communications.
