Swimming
Favorite athlete: Ryan Howard
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Competing in districts and states the past three years for Council Rock. Those meets are my favorite to compete in; I always have the most fun!
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: About two minutes before my 200 freestyle at districts last year, I fell on my butt and had a huge bruise for weeks. It was pretty embarrassing.
Music on iPod: Rap and Country
Future plans: I will be swimming for Penn State
Words to live by: “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel the world
One thing people don’t know about me: One of my ears is smaller than the other one.
By Mary Jane Souder
Tommie Dillione took the day off from swimming on Christmas.
That is a rare occurrence indeed for the Council Rock North senior, who is defined by her work ethic.
“Tommie is one of the most focused and hardest working swimmers I have ever coached in my 38 years coaching high school,” Rock North coach Ted Schueller said. “It’s just an attitude she has. She wants to work harder at things she feels she has to get better at, and she wants to challenge herself every set.
“She doesn’t sit back and rest just because she’ one of the best kids on the team and in the district. She just keeps working to be one of the top kids.”
Dillione is not only one of the ‘top kids’ in the area but the entire state. Last year, the Rock North senior captured district titles in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, breaking the district record in the 200 free. She went on to finish second in the 500 free and third in the 200 free at the PIAA State championships, earning NISCA All-American honors in both events.
She has her sights set even higher this year, but Dillione’s primary goal is to see her team to succeed.
“I really want to see what I can do for the team and how far we can get as a team,” she said. “I want to keep doing better at the state level and keep moving up.”
Each year, Dillione has elevated her performances, and the only step up this year would be a state championship.
“I would love to be state champion if I could have that opportunity,” she said. “I just want to push myself and see how well I can do this year.”
If early results are worth anything, Dillione is going to have herself quite a season. She broke her own school record in the 50 free at the Cardinal Carnival last weekend with a time of 24.09, breaking her previous mark of 24.51. Dillione accomplished this feat in an event that is not her focus and one that she admits she doesn’t take too seriously.
“I was pretty surprised,” she said. “It was nice.”
Dillione has performed on the national stage, competing in California in August, and Schueller says he knew she was a special talent the first time he saw her compete in the pool at the Tri-Hampton YMCA where she followed in the footsteps of older sisters Maggie and Kate.
“I could tell at 10 years old she was different than most 10-year-olds,” the Indians’ coach said. “You could see the ability in the water, and her attitude and her work ethic and wanting to get better – that’s just grown stronger and stronger every year, especially as she’s had success and done well at every level.”
Dillione has been swimming competitive since she was six years old.
“My older sisters had done it, and I started pretty young and never stopped,” she said. “At age 10, I started doing the winter stuff and started swimming year round.”
Falling by the wayside were lacrosse, field hockey, tennis and softball.
Why did swimming win out?
“I think it was just that it came more naturally to me in the beginning than the other sports, and I just stuck with it,” Dillione said. “I can’t imagine not doing it. I really love practicing, and I love going to meets.
“If ever I stopped loving it, I think I should stop doing it altogether because it’s not the kind of sport you can do if you don’t really love it.”
A typical day for Dillione includes a 5:15 a.m. wake-up call and practice with her high school team at 5:45. In the evening, Dillione makes the 25-minute trip to club practice for her Eastern Express squad at either The College of New Jersey or Princeton.
She is reaping the benefits for her hard work.
In November, Dillione signed a letter of intent to accept a scholarship to swim at Penn State University, choosing Penn State over the University of North Carolina from an impressive list of schools vying for her talents.
“In the end, I liked the fact that Penn State was a little closer, so my parents would be able to come see me swim,” Dillione said. “I liked that part of it, and I fell in love with the school when I went there. It felt like it all fit into place.”
The recruiting process, according to Dillione, was a bit stressful.
“I knew swimming in college definitely was one of my goals,” she said. “I didn’t really have an idea of where I wanted to go or where I was looking as of last spring. I really had no idea, and it was all kind of scary to me because it was coming up so fast. Everything fell into place, and I was able to make a decision this fall.”
An excellent student, Dillione, who boasts a GPA in the neighborhood of 4.0, is enrolled in several AP classes as well as honors classes.
“Academics are stressed pretty highly in my family,” she said. “You have to work hard.”
Dillione knows she has to use her time wisely.
“Everything is about swimming, but she knows her grades and academics are just as important,” Schueller said.
Dillione is emerging as a leader in the pool for the Indians.
“The kids follow her example,” Schueller said. “She’s just a great person to have around for the rest of the girls.
“They follow her lead. They see what she’s gotten out of swimming with the work she’s put in with everything she’s accomplished to this point. She’s very well liked, and she’s looked up to.”
Although she already is one of the area’s most accomplished swimmers, Dillione is committed to becoming even better, and hard work, she says, is the key.
“I set a lot of goals for myself, and I push myself,” she said. “I want to see how far I can get.
“You have to work hard to get what you want out of a sport. I just want to put in all the work that I can to see how far I can take myself in the sport I love to do. I’ve been doing it for so long, and I just want to see where I can go. I’m really loving it.”
