Swimming, Soccer, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: J.T. Realmuto
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory competing in sports is in my sophomore year at SOL Champs for swimming, my 200 free relay unexpectedly made the districts cut, and we were all jumping at the end of the pool.
Funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The funniest memory in sports was when I had to play goalie for a portion of my senior soccer season with no experience, but it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the season.
Music on playlist: The music on my playlist varies from rap to country, but my all-time pump-up artist for every game/meet is Travis Scott.
Future plans: I plan on going to college and continuing to be a lifelong athlete.
Words to live by: “Success doesn’t happen overnight, be patient.”
One goal before turning 30: Travel to Greece.
One thing people don’t know about me: Although most people know I compete and play multiple different sports, most don’t know that I have always enjoyed mountain biking on my off weekends. My dad has been taking me since I was a kid, and we enjoy finding new trails and challenging ourselves. I even competed on a mountain biking team when was in middle school.
By GORDON GLANTZ
When Abington senior Olivia Capps first came out for the swim team as a freshman, she didn’t know what to expect.
Even if she made coach Joe Lennon’s squad, Capps knew she would be jumping into the deep end and, literally, be in over her head.
But she kept pushing and soon found herself treading water before becoming a major factor for the Ghosts.
“Freshman year, it was a little bit rocky,” she said, adding that her progress was a bit impeded by a broken arm and broken ankle in middle school. “It wasn’t my best year. Sophomore year, toward the end of the
season, I kind of just evolved. I started getting some of the faster times on the team.”
In fact, as a sophomore, she was one-fourth a 200 freestyle relay team that went to districts.
“That’s when I discovered that maybe I should start thinking about swimming a little more seriously,” said Capps.
A three-sport athlete, she also realized that most of the battle is being mentally prepared.
“I realized, growing up, that I needed to prepare a lot more than just a week before something,” said Capps. “Our soccer preseason is really hard, just like it is with swimming. I was always going for runs maybe a week before swimming or soccer, and then I would be disappointed with how I did the first couple days of practice.
“I just learned that I need to be patient and that nothing is going to happen overnight. I just need to keep on working or else nothing will change.”
Describing Capps as a sprint freestyler, Abington swim coach Joe Lennon has had a front row seat for watching her develop and evolve.
“She is a delightful young lady, who has really had a terrific Abington career,” said Lennon. “She is a very good athlete who also plays two other sports, soccer and lacrosse, and my sense now is that swimming was once her third sport.
“I would say that it is now actually swimming that she is thinking about doing in college, and that it has probably surpassed her other two sports in how she has performed over her career.”
Lennon believes Capps can absolutely end her swimming career with some postseason accolades, both in individual and relay events.
“Looking at her career arc, she has gotten faster every year for us,” said the coach. “Last year, she started swimming on our ‘A’ relays. She is on our school-record teams in 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. We wouldn’t have gotten there without her.”
Consummate Teammate
If there is a sport out there, Capps has probably played it – or at least tried it -- a few times.
She played softball up until high school, and is still an avid fan of the Phillies. She picked up lacrosse later as more of a fun endeavor to keep her running.
While she also enjoys competitive mountain biking, there is no denying that her first love was actually soccer.
“I always played soccer, my whole life,” said Capps. “I only did club swimming in the summer, just for fun. My whole family did it.”
So, soccer was her primary athletic endeavor heading into Abington.
“It was my main thing,” said Capps. “I planned on going to college for soccer and everything.”
Although priorities have shifted, he passion for soccer remained.
“Olivia is the consummate teammate who will do anything to help the team win,” said Abington soccer coach Rick Tompkins. “When our goalie was injured, Olivia took her place and posted a clean sheet.”
Looking back, Capps treasures the time she had to play as the emergency goalkeeper.
“Our starting goalie was injured,” she said. “We only had two, for JV and varsity, and our starting goalie got hurt. Me, being the tallest, they asked me to do it only a couple of days before a game.
“I thought I’d try something new. I wasn’t planning on playing in college. I figured, ‘What can I really lose?’ My first game, I ended up having a shutout. It was just kind of funny how it all worked out, and I even ended up playing there more during the end of the season.
“It ended up being really fun, and it made the season a lot more exciting.”
Still, Capps was most needed on the back end of the pitch as a defender with other special skills and was back there again when the district playoffs came around.
“Her long throw in was an absolute weapon for us and resulted in goals,” said Tompkins.
Leading the Way
Capps also evolved into a true leader in her senior year.
“As a senior, she exhibited leadership in addition to her skills which helped our team succeed,” said Tompkins. “We will miss her next year and wish her well in all of her endeavors.”
Capps has also seen her leadership skills grow with the swim team.
“Freshman year, when swimming wasn’t even yet my main sport, I only had a couple of friends on the team,” she said. “I didn’t know that many people on the team. Definitely, when I got into 10th grade, I broke out of my shell a little bit more.”
Capps is particularly sensitive to the needs of the freshmen on the team.
“I try to make them feel as comfortable as possible, because that is what I would have wanted in my freshman year,” she said. “I’m a captain this year, and I see my role as making them all feel included.
“We don’t really have separate groups on the team. Everyone talks to everyone else in the locker room and in the pool, and everyone just feels a lot more welcome.”
Lennon was well aware of how well Capps is wearing the captain stripes.
“As a freshman, and this is not unusual with a lot of kids, but they just don’t realize the talent that they have,” said Lennon. “She was definitely more on the quiet side.
“She definitely grew into the role of being a leader. She definitely is much more of a vocal personality, which you see as she has gotten older. She is super kid.”
For the Lost Time
Because she was playing soccer in the fall, Capps was always a few strokes behind when swim season began but was hitting her stride when it mattered.
“That was true in the past,” said Capps. “Preseason was always pretty rocky for me. I would go whenever I could go, but the preseason would begin right at the end of my soccer season, so I couldn’t go to that much. I was just there, at the first (swim) practice, basically. I couldn’t really be there for preseason. I was always at the back of the lane.”
This year, though, there has been no such problem. Capps believed she has learned from the past and is looking for a dream senior season.
“This year, I prepared a lot for the swim season,” she explained. “I’m taking it more seriously. I quit my club soccer team last year so that I could focus more on swimming.
“I built myself up through weight training during soccer season. That helps me a lot with swimming, so I came in a lot stronger than I had in past years.”
Capps surprised herself right off the bat this season.
“I wasn’t even prepared for it,” she said. “In my first meet, I got best lifetime time in the 50 free. My first meets used to be my slowest. It’s really cool to see results from what I have been doing in the offseason.”
She has also been inserted in a 200 medley relay team that made states last year but lost a key swimmer to graduation.
“I had the other best freestyle time,” she said. “She took them really far last year, it pushed me to do a lot better for that relay. They qualified for states last year. This year, we are really trying to keep the time that they had last year.”
Capps, who added that running during soccer season is an ancillary benefit to preparing for swim season, does not want to get too far ahead of herself in the expectation department.
However, she is admittedly driven by a competitive motor and has some specific goals in mind.
“I’ve only gone to districts in relays in past years,” said Capps. “This year, I’m really pushing to go for two individual events. I’m going to go for two individual events and then look forward to going on to states.”
Up Next
Beyond the postseason, Capps absolutely has her sights set on being a collegiate athlete.
“She is the kind of kid that college coaches should look at,” said Lennon. “She’s super athletic. She is a strong freestyler, so I would expect that they could get her faster in those races.
“She also has a pretty good breast stroke. That’s her best non-freestyle stroke, and I’m sure college coaches would be interested in a kid with her athletic profile. And she’s very tall, too.
“She is just a kid who is scratching the surface of what could be.”
The list of schools she is talking to include the likes of Rutgers, West Chester and St. Joseph’s.
“I was never expecting to swim in college,” she said. “Last year, I started to get in contact with some coaches. The assistant coach on our swim team, Alex Cohen, was helping me looking into colleges that were in my time ranges. Some are a stretch, but some are ones I could possibly look into.”
Capps is also not ruling out a change of athletic plans.
“I am also looking into rowing in college,” she said. “It seems kind of random, because I have never actually rowed before. Because of my swimming background, it actually helps a lot with rowers. It’s either going to be rowing or swimming, I think, but I’m still thinking more about swimming right now.”
Capps, who plans to major in either nursing or public health, has seen that the combination of her height and overall athleticism is seen as a universal plus with colleges.
She said: “Even when I was looking into playing soccer, it was, like, ‘Wow, she is a big body in the back.’ I play lacrosse in the spring. That helps, when running through the field, because they can’t get their sticks as high as mine.”
In her primary sport, the advantages are obvious.
“In swimming, it definitely helps, having that reach,” said Capps. “In both freestyle and breast stroke, just having that reach for the finish is great, even just that extra arm length.”
Capps added that she plans on being a lifelong athlete.
“Even if I don’t go for swimming or rowing, if I change mind, I’m definitely going to do a club sport,” she explained. “I’m going to do something in college. Even after, I’m doing to join a women’s team.
“For example, my dad and my sister are on an ultimate Frisbee team. I might get into that this summer.”
And then there’s mountain biking with her father.
“It’s just a good way to get my mind off of things,” said Capps. “We always try to find a day, like on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. We can go faraway or close. It’s just always nice to find new trails. Me and my dad always go on this one in Pennypack (Park), and it’s just a nice way for me to get my mind off of things.
“Going into a new week, I always feel so good after doing mountain biking.”
And, true to her personality, it has evolved beyond escapism.
“I joined a mountain biking team,” she said. “I have always been a competitive person. Being able to race in something other than swimming, and in my other sports, it’s really fulfilling to see how I can do.”
Scout’s Honor
Outside of her athletic endeavors, Capps has followed the lead of her grandmother, Carole Capps, and has been a lifelong member of the Girl Scouts.
“I got my silver award and I’m working on my gold,” she said, adding that she considered playing soccer for the Coast Guard. “My whole family has always been involved in scouts. My grandmother is the troop leader for a Daisy troop, so I go out and help her a lot. I do a lot of volunteering, and my whole family is big into volunteering.”
Capps was her class vice president all the way through at Abington. She ran for Homecoming Queen with the hopes of being elected to the Homecoming Court and ended up winning Queen.
“I went to all Homecoming games, leading up to this year,” she said. “My friend won last year. I knew I wanted to run this year.
“It was a tough race for me, but it was really fulfilling.”
Capps wanted to thank her immediate family (parents Jenny and Brian, siblings Marilynn and Jake).
“Definitely my parents, who have been my biggest supporters, and my siblings and my grandparents,” she affirmed.
In addition to swim coaches Lennon and Cohen, she also wanted to thank assistant Artem Peshenko.
“All three really helped to lift the whole team,” said Capps. “(Cohen) has always been a big supporter of mine, and has always pushed me in every meet. He always made me want to do better.
“When he sees potential in a swimmer, he pushes them to do better. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He doesn’t tell me what I want to hear, he tells me what I need to hear.”
She also thanked the boys’ captain from a year ago, Luke Erwine, for helping her with specific training techniques to improve.
“He was really big into the gym and designed a lot of swim workouts for me,” she said. “I wouldn’t as fast without him helping me with the weight training. That helped me a lot with confidence.”
