Swimmers from Abington, CB South and Upper Moreland are featured in this week’s notebook.
National Conference
O'Neill has eye on states - Emma O’Neill has her eye on the big show.
“I do have big expectations for myself,” the Abington sophomore said. “I’d like to make it to states this year.”
In order to make it to the PIAA Class AAA meet, O’Neill must swim well at the District One meet. She has already qualified in five events; the 100, 200 and 500 freestyles, the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.
Swimmers can only compete in two individual events.
“I’m not sure which ones I’ll end up swimming, but we have time to work that out,” she said. “It’s nice to have choices so we’ll see what happens, but I’m not worried about that right now.”
Her favorite event is actually the 500.
“I like the longer distance but doing different things is always good,” she said. “I’m really excited about the possibility of us getting a relay to districts. I think our 200 medley relay has a shot and if we did that it would be great.”
O’Neill swims the butterfly leg of the medley relay.
“I’m more comfortable with the team this year,” she said. “I know everybody and I really like being on the team. Last year as a freshman, it was all so new, but this year has been really great.”
The Abington sophomore began swimming competitively five years ago.
“I enjoyed being in the water all summer, so I thought I’d give winter swimming a try,” she said. “Competitive swimming is a lot different but I still love it.
“Swimming is the main thing for me. It’s hard to do much else, but when you love something, that’s what you want to do, so I’m happy with my choice.”
Last season she was second at the conference championships in both the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly and anchored the third place 400 freestyle relay.
At the District One Class AAA meet, she finished eighth in the 100 butterfly and 16th in the 200 freestyle.
Continental Conference
Zaborowski looking to finish strong - Ryan Zaborowski knows exactly what swimming has taught him.
“It taught me what work is and that to work hard is to be rewarded at the end,” said the Central Bucks South senior. “It taught me how to focus on a goal and to be patient and wait for the payoff at the end.”
Zaborowski has been swimming since age six, but it wasn’t a big priority until high school.
“My freshman year I got more serious about it and my sophomore year I got really serious,” he said.
While in middle school, he participated in the school plays.
“When I got to high school, I chose swimming over being in the plays,” he said. “It’s more work, but I wanted to really do something.”
He is also a singer and participated in the chamber and select choirs.
“I’m still in the chorus, but I gave up the others and I miss them, but this year is a lot easier,” he said. “Last year I had to run right from a meet to a concert and this year I don’t have to do that.”
He is waiting to hear back from three colleges; Pitt, Delaware and Penn State. He won’t be swimming but would like to major in finance or business with an eye toward being a financial advisor or entering education.
“This is my last hurrah so I’m gunning it out every race,” he said.
“Our team lost a lot of seniors from last year so we got off to a slow start, but then we just skyrocketed out of nowhere,” he said. “I was worried at the beginning of the season, but everyone’s swimming well now.”
At last year’s conference championships, he was fifth in the100 breaststroke and 17th in the 200 individual medley.
He competed at the District One Class AAA meet in the 100 breaststroke, finishing 33rd and swam the breaststroke leg of the district qualifying 200 medley relay for the Titans, which took 26th.
American Conference
Swimming a family affair for Meade - It all started at the Upper Moreland Swim Club for Bridget Meade.
“My two older sisters swam, and when I was about four or five, my mom just asked me if I wanted to swim,” said Meade, now a senior captain for Upper Moreland. “I grew up with half the team swimming there, and that’s one of the things that make high school swimming so much fun.”
She was a member of the 200 medley relay that qualified for the District One Class AA meet.
“That was a great experience,” she said. “We made the cut in all three relays this year, so it’s nice to have that. I’ll have to wait and see what I’ll swim but I’m very excited.”
Upper Moreland is a Class AA swim program in a conference that is nearly all Class AAA teams.
“You go into most meets knowing that you won’t be able to score enough points to win the meet, so your goals for the meet are different than most other teams,” she said. “We look for everyone doing their best, so for us, dual meets are all about personal bests and district cuts.
“We swim against some truly great teams, like Upper Dublin, and when we swim them, we really focus on getting personal best times. The positive about swimming teams like that is their swimmers are so good and they push us to be our best.”
In addition to swimming, Meade was the goaltender for the field hockey team and is a field player on the lacrosse team.
“I really enjoy hockey because I love wearing the big pads and being aggressive and going after the ball,” she said.
“Playing sports has helped me in so many ways. I learned how to manage my time, how to focus on a task, how to work with a group. It’s been great for me.”
She has been accepted to Penn State Abington, is waiting to hear from Shippensburg, and is still applying to some other colleges with an eye toward majoring in physical education or exercise science.
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