Swimming
Favorite swimmer: Katie Ledecky
Favorite team: Shippensburg University swimming
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the SOL championships last year for the second year in a row in the 100 breaststroke.
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Last year at SOLs, my coach was handing out the medals for the 100 breaststroke. He handed me the bronze medal instead of the gold, and my friend – who was third – the gold. I didn’t realize it until I got home, and the next day we both exchanged medals.
Music on iPod: Drake, Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, plus some alternative rock.
Future plans: Swim collegiately at Shippensburg University and graduate with a degree in Exercise Science and get a job in physical therapy.
Favorite motto: “Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel to Europe
One thing people don’t know about me: I LOVE taking ice baths!
By Mary Jane Souder
Nicole Martorella is defined by her work ethic.
The Norristown senior, according to her coach, takes working hard to the next level.
“She has a work ethic that is beyond – she just doesn’t stop,” coach Beth O’Neil said. “She’s just very committed, she knows what she wants.”
And what Martorella wants is an opportunity to compete at states this year.
In truth, it would be easy to understand if she had opted to pass on her final high school season. After all, Martorella had already signed a letter of intent to swim at Shippensburg, and with her high school team unable to give her serious competition, the Norristown senior spends most of her days practicing alone at Greater Plymouth Community Center.
“I allow her to go because to be honest, we just have never had anybody that could keep up with her or give her a real challenge,” O’Neil said.
So at least once a week, she practices with her team, and Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays she practices at the community center.
“I can’t practice with my high school most of the time because practice isn’t long enough,” Martorella said. “I practice two-and-a-half to three hours a day, and my high school team practices an hour and a half to two hours. I need more time, so I can make sure I can get everything in.
“It’s hard, it’s really hard, but I get through it.”
Martorella acknowledged that she has had her low moments.
“It’s hard sometimes just keeping motivated and believing in yourself,” she said. “That’s the hardest part for me – the mental part”
A two-time SOL American Conference champion in the 100 breastroke, Martorella – who already has her named in school record books - has been driven by the singular goal of earning a spot at the PIAA Class AAA meet. Last year, the then junior posted a time of 1:07.94, just off the state qualifying time of 1:07.65.
“As much as I may have wanted to give up, I always had one little glimmer of hope – ‘You know what, I can do this. I will make it,’” Martorella said. “It’s just that mentality that keeps me going.”
Working hard is nothing new to Martorella. She brought that work ethic into the pool when O’Neil first saw her swim with the Norristown Aquatic Club as a 10-year old.
“She will not stop practicing until she has it all done,” the Eagles coach said. “She’s always been that way.
“She gave up Norristown Aquatic Club a couple of years ago because of the lack of commitment of some of the other girls. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to work hard. Some of the girls just wanted to come, and it was more of a social thing.”
Last spring, Martorella found a home with the Plymouth Whitemarsh Aquatic Club.
“My club coach, the high school coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh, sends me workouts every day that he gives his kids to do, so I do those,” she said. “I keep in contact with him about how I’m doing, what times I’m holding in practice. He’s very supportive of me just as Beth is too.”
Martorella is reaping the dividends for her hard work. She shattered the 36-year old record established in 1976 for the 100-yard breaststroke when she was a sophomore, breaking the old mark of 1:11.70 with a time of 1:11.51. Since then, she’s bested her own record several times with her personal best of 1:07.94 currently on the school’s leader board.
Not a bad outcome for someone – who as a youngster – just couldn’t find a sport she loved.
“When I was little, I played soccer for a little bit – didn’t like it,” Martorella said. “I did gymnastics for a little bit – didn’t like it. Played softball for a little bit – didn’t like it.”
When she was eight, Martorella tried swimming. She liked it. A whole lot.
“It was right after the 2004 Olympics, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, swimming is so cool,’” she said. “After I started swimming, I was hooked. I just loved it.”
She’s never lost her passion.
“When I was eight, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is fun,’ but as I got older, I always took it really seriously,” Martorella said. “I loved the idea of working hard.
“Working hard means improving yourself and getting faster.”
Back then, she received inspiration from a strong core of Norristown swimmers that included current assistant coach Rachel Vagnoni.
“I remember one time when I was about 10, I was at a high school meet for my school, and I watched one of my coaches break the 100 breaststroke record,” Martorella said. “My mom told me, ‘That could be you.’”
It turned out it was Martorella who broke Vagnoni’s breaststroke record. The school had two records – one in meters and one in yards. Vagnoni’s was the meters record, the longstanding record was yards. Martorella owns both.
The Norristown senior is a second-year captain of her high school squad.
“The girls look up to her and know how hard she works,” O’Neil said. “They try to model after her. They watch her, they watch what she does, and they cheer her on.”
The idea of swimming in college became a serious consideration for Martorella last year, but she admits she didn’t start looking at schools until last summer.
“I knew I really wanted to compete in the PSAC, so I narrowed my options down from there,” she said.
One visit to Shippensburg was all Martorella needed to know that could be her home for the next four years.
“Everything just fell into place,” she said. “The head coach was awesome, and the team was great. I knew as soon as I set foot on campus – this is it.”
An honors student, Martorella, whose course load includes three AP classes, is ranked eighth in her senior class. She is a member of the National Honor Society, and two days before Christmas she received word that she had been accepted into the honors program at Shippensburg where she will major in exercise science.
“A couple of days before I found out, my family got Chinese food, and I opened my fortune cookie, and it said, ‘Good news is on the way,’” Martorella said. “I didn’t know what that meant, but I’m really superstitious, and I believe in stuff like that.
“Sure enough, two days later, I got in. I was so happy.”
While she once aspired to be a nurse, Martorella has opted instead to pursue a career in physical therapy.
“One time when I saw someone get a flu shot, I saw them bleed, and I freaked out,’” she said. “I was like, ‘I can’t be a nurse. I can’t handle blood.’
“What is something I can kind of relate to with athletes or people in general that are struggling with something that I can help them feel better? I thought of physical therapy. There we go. I started researching it and thought – this is something I can be good at and I can like.”
Whatever the future holds, Martorella will leave Norristown with no regrets.
“I have had a great high school career,” she said. “I have really enjoyed all my time in high school, and it’s not over yet.”
