'Fearless'
How Grandview Heights' Furbee became Ohio State swimming signee
Dave Purpura
Columbus Dispatch |
USA TODAY NETWORK
Grandview Heights' Carrie Furbee reacts to winning her first state championship, the 50-yard freestyle, in the Division II state meet in February 2023. Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch
Considering Carrie Furbee's success in swimming the past three years, it might be surprising to hear the Grandview Heights senior entered high school trying to find her identity in the pool. "I was not a top swimmer at all," Furbee said. "I was never at the top of my groups. I did struggle a little in middle school knowing what my events would be and what my goals were." Any questions were answered in the ensuing months, when Furbee pulled off the first of what has become three consecutive sweeps of Division II district championships in the 50- and 100- yard freestyle.
Not to mention four OHSAA titles in those events, cementing Furbee's place among the state's elite.
The Ohio State signee has swept the 50 and 100 free at state each of the past two years, and her current times of 23.18 and 50.93, respectively, in those events would easily lead the state when compared to rankings from SwimMeet.com.
Furbee hit the aforementioned marks during the Speedo Winter Junior Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, in mid-December. Having won state in 23.02 and 50.06 a year ago, she is approaching those times despite having barely tapered.
'I really focus on hitting these times I want to hit,' Furbee said. 'I reached the podium (at state) in one event my freshman year (placing seventh in the 50 free). The summer before my freshman year is when I realized I could reach a higher level in swimming. I was finding myself in swimming a little bit. I realized I really enjoyed the sprint events and that I was improving a lot.'
Furbee also led off the 200 and 400 free relays at state as a freshman, and has anchored three state-qualifying 200 free and 200 medley relays the past two seasons.
She owns Grandview records in the 50 free, 100 butterfly, 100 free, 200 free and 500 free and helped set the program's 200 free and 400 free relay records.
'It's been remarkable,' said Grandview coach Susan Ferguson, who has worked with Furbee since youth swimming. 'She was always focused but her stroke improved so much (her freshman year) and her times dropped. You could tell she was becoming more confident and more established.'
Furbee, who committed to OSU in October 2023 and chose the Buckeyes over offers from Indiana and Michigan, comes from strong swimming bloodlines. Her mother, Chris, swam at Wittenberg and older brother Calvin, a 2018 graduate of Grandview who went on to compete at Division III Emory University, still owns five Bobcats boys records.
Central Ohio Aquatics club teammate Millie Evans, a Bexley senior who has signed with Penn State and was last year's Division II state runner-up in the 100 fly, said Furbee's leadership exceeds other qualities.
'She's the lane leader in her lane at practice and I'm next to her (in the adjacent lane),' Evans said. 'She keeps her lane on schedule and working hard, which is admirable. She is just a lot of fun to be around. She's always here. She is always putting the work in.'
Carrie Furbee stands atop the podium after winning her second consecutive Division II 50 freestyle state championship in February. Geoff Blankenship/Columbus Dispatch
While Furbee and Evans rarely have faced off in individual events, that could change.
Furbee said the 100 fly, which Evans has won at district each of the past two years, 'has definitely become one of my main events,' but Furbee stopped short of saying she will swim it in the postseason. She and Ferguson expect to make that decision soon.
Furbee tied for 10th in the 100 fly at Junior Nationals.
'Whatever she plans for the season or toward the end of her high school career, she will do everything she can to reach that goal,' Ferguson said. 'She loves a challenge and she is fearless. Even since she was a freshman and even before that, she (has been) fearless.'
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