School: Neshaminy
Swimming
Favorite athlete: Ryan Lochte
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Breaking the 200 free relay record at SOL championships in 2008
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that happened while competing in sports: “Once, a teammate of mine dove into the pool for the 50 free, and his jammer fell down. He pulled it up and kept swimming, but our whole team saw it happen, and we’ve never forgotten about it.”
Music on iPod: “I have a lot of different music, but some of my favorites are: Queen, the Beatles, Green Day, Billy Joel, The Goo Goo Dolls, Valencia, Taylor Swift and various musicals.”
Future plans: “Choose a college!”
Words to live by: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi
One goal before turning 30: “Travel abroad”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I am an avid reader.”
Chelsea Perugini gives new meaning to the whole concept of student-athlete.
A standout swimmer who won a pair of medals in the recent SOL championships, the Neshaminy senior takes AP classes and is a member of the National Honor Society and Culture Club. She is a member of the choir, works as a lifeguard three nights a week and for good measure plays soccer for her church in the fall and softball for her church in the spring.
And, yes, she swims year-round.
“It’s hard stuff,” Perugini said. “When I have work, I go from school in the morning right to swim practice after school and then to work.
“Work doesn’t end until nine, and that’s when I do my schoolwork. I try and get as much done in school as possible. Some days it’s more difficult than others, but I get it done.”
And she gets it done well. Perugini is ranked in the top six percent of her class.
“It’s all about balancing my time,” she said. “It’s hard because I’m in a lot of difficult classes.”
Perugini comes from a family of swimmers – her sister Rachel, a Neshaminy grad, is now swimming for Shippensburg, and her younger sister Devon is a member of this year’s Redskin squad.
By the time she was six, Perugani was swimming competitively for Morrisville, which was coached by her aunt.
“I can’t say I always loved it,” she said. “Morrsiville was an outdoor pool. It was really cold, it was hard getting up in the morning when you’re six years old, and your parents are forcing you out the door.
“I remember seasons when my mom forced me to sign up.”
When she was in seventh grade, Perugini began to change her feelings about the sport.
“When my sister (Rachel) started swimming for the high school, she really loved it,” she said. “She got me interested in swimming.
“I always wanted to be like her, but don’t tell her that.
At the encouragement of Rachel, two years her senior, Chelsea began swimming for Bensalem and also Neshaminy CORE.
“I got to know their coaches, and I really liked them,” Perugini said. “That’s when swimming became fun.
“It didn’t become less work – it became more work but also more fun because I went to school with a lot of the people I was swimming with.
“I also got better at it, and when you get better at something, it becomes easier for you. It becomes second nature, so you’re able to have the fun aspect of it as opposed to the complaining, ‘I don’t want to be here.’”
Neshaminy coach Brian Suter know he’d inherited a special swimmer when Perugini joined the team .
“She’s really developed nicely,” he said. “Every year she surprises us.”
Perugini’s speciality has been freestyle and backstroke, but as a junior, she added the breaststroke to her resume.
“Our breaststroker graduated, and we needed someone, so they threw me in,” she said.
This year, Perugini – who won gold in the 50 free and silver in the 100 backstroke at the SOL championships - qualified for districts in the breaststroke as well as the 50 free. She also was the leadoff swimmer in the 200 free relay at districts and is a member of the 2008 200 free relay team that broke the school record.
“She’s super competitive,” Suter said. “She’s a big meet swimmer. She’s always been able to rise to the occasion when someone challenges her, and she likes competition.
“She likes to go against other fast swimmers.”
Talk to Perugini and while she admits she loves the challenge of swimming against the best, she considers herself more of a ‘friendly competitor.’
“I try and swim my own races and have a goal time instead of thinking, ‘I have to beat this girl next to me,’” she said. “I know if I can get a good time, that’s fulfilling in itself.
“I’ll be able to do what I want to do, and that’ really important to me.”
A team captain this year, Perugini has been a positive leader.
“She’s done a great job, not only in training but also in performance,” Suter said. “She’s just an all-around great kid.”
Perugini is planning to swim at the collegiate level but has not decided where that will be.
“I’ve had the privilege of coaching some really outstanding swimmers,” Suter said. “Our ultimate goal is teaching these kids about being a team player and teaching them about sticking with the team and then carrying the legacy on to the collegiate level.
“This year we had seven kids active in NCAA swimming. For a team as small as ours – we’re pretty proud of that. I think Chelsea will be the next one to go in and continue that legacy.
Perugini is undecided on a major, and according to her coach, it’s a safe bet whatever school lands her talents will not be disappointed.
“She’s just an all-around great kid,” Suter said.
