This week’s notebook highlights swimmers from CR South, CB West and Norristown.
National Conference
Memorable season for first-year swimmer - David Topham made the decision to come out for the swim team for the first time at Council Rock South as a senior.
But the one year he spent as a team member has been memorable for him.
“I’ve been really enjoying it,” he said.
Topham wrestled for the Golden Hawks prior to his decision to switch to swimming.
“During the time I was wrestling, I wasn’t swimming other than summer swimming,” he said. “It was a little hard at first, but in the beginning, I was dropping a lot of time which was very encouraging so I was motivated to keep going.
“It was pretty fun to see my times drop so much.”
He will compete at the conference championships and is looking at the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke.
“I’m really looking forward to the meet,” he said. “It will be a really nice end to my swimming career.”
He used to run track but now prefers to focus on one sport.
“Wrestling was really time-consuming and with swimming my grades went up, plus there’s no risk of concussions doing swimming,” he said.
“I also really enjoy swimming relays because you really feel like you’re a team. With wrestling you are a team, but it’s really just you on the mat with the other guy so you don’t get that team feeling that you do when you’re at the blocks with three other guys.
“It was a good decision for me to switch to swimming, and I’m really glad I did it, even though it was only for one year.”
He got into the University of Utah and is waiting to hear back from his top choice, Brigham Young University - Idaho.
He is not quite sure of his major but is considering pre-med.
Continental Conference
MacMillan primed to finish strong - Quinn MacMillan is pretty excited about the upcoming conference championships.
And she should be.
The Central Bucks West senior should be right in the thick of two races - the 50 and 100-yard freestyles.
“Those are my strongest events,” she said. “I’ll swim to the best of my ability and hopefully get good results.
“I feel as though I’m a contender in those races. I worked really hard to get faster, and I’m hoping that hard work will pay off.”
She will not taper for the meet, saving that for the upcoming District One Class AAA and PIAA meets.
“Because of that, I’m not expecting to do insane times, but we have such a fast conference that I think the adrenaline from racing will help me drop time,” she said.
She is more concerned with times than placements.
“My main goal is to drop time,” she said. “In the back of my mind, I would love to win at districts in my last year of high school. That would be great. But if I do my personal best times, I’ll be happy no matter what.
“I’m really looking forward to districts. I’m nervous but excited and I can’t wait to see what happens.”
She has the experience to perform well in this meet.
“I know what I’m doing now,” she said. “As a freshman I hadn’t raced in big meets and I didn’t know what to do. I’d watched my older sisters compete but watching isn’t the same as being in the races yourself so that was just something I had to learn on my own.”
She has committed to James Madison for swimming and plans to major in business.
“It’s a beautiful school and the coach (Richard Long) is amazing,” she said. “I connected with him immediately.”
She also considered Ohio State.
American Conference
Bieros leads Eagles - Sophia Bieros has come a long way in a short amount of time.
The junior captain at Norristown didn’t start swimming competitively until eighth grade.
“I came in my freshman year and didn’t really know anything,” she said. “But in the preseason I just fell in love with the sport and I worked really hard to go in there and stick with it, and I’m really glad I did that.”
Norristown has a small team and Bieros thinks that was a benefit for her.
“Since there aren’t that many people, I did get a lot of individual attention and that’s been a big advantage for me,” she said. “If I were in a big program the coaches wouldn’t have had the time to work with me. I would have been lost in the crowd. And if I were at a really big, strong program, like Upper Dublin, I might not have even made the team at all.”
Competitive swimming has opened up new worlds for her.
“Because of swimming, I am now teaching lessons and lifeguarding,” she said. “It’s really created opportunities for me.”
She is hoping those opportunities will continue into college.
“I definitely would love to swim in college,” she said. “I’ve only been swimming for a few years so I feel like I’m just getting started and I don’t want to give it up. If I could swim in college, I would feel so lucky.”
She is considering Albright and would like to major in English or history with an eye toward teaching and coaching.
Outside of swimming, Bieros takes AP courses and is getting ready to take the SAT.
“I’m a very serious student so that’s important to me,” she said.
She is also training to take over the presidency of the French Club at Norristown.
“Swimming and studies take up a lot of my time, but it is nice to have an activity outside of swimming,” she said.
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