Swimming
Favorite athlete: Natalie Coughlin
Favorite team: the Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was from my freshman year when I made districts in 100 breast by .01 seconds.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I was swimming in a relay for my summer swim team at a relay carnival and I thought that each leg was 100m. In reality, each leg was only 50m. The girl after me dove in and we swam side by side for a lap because I thought that she had made a mistake, when really I was the one who had totally messed up!
Music on iPod: the 80's! Best of the 80's Pandora is my JAM!
Future plans: I am attending the United States Air Force Academy next year. I will graduate after four years as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. I am not sure what I want to major in yet, but I know that I want to go into medicine and hopefully end up in research and development. However, the needs of the Air Force always come first!
Words to live by: The wise words of Sam from the Lord of the Rings: "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."
One goal before turning 30: I hope to land a position as a Research Practitioner in the Air Force.
One thing people don’t know about me: I lived in Okinawa, Japan when I was in second grade.
By GORDON GLANTZ
The vastness of the world – and the ability to make the most of her small place within it – was a lesson learned early by Hatboro-Horsham swimmer Maddy Wawrzyniak.
The daughter of a career Marine, Lt. Col Dan Wawryzniak, she found herself living several different places – California, Virginia, California, Japan and California again – before the family settled in for good in Philadelphia suburbs after her father’s retirement when she was in fourth grade.
Much to the chagrin of her mother, Mindy, Maddy learned to relish the idea of packing up boxes and heading to the next adventure.
She always knew who she was, where she was and where she was going.
And where she is going next is Colorado Springs, Colorado, as part of the next incoming class of cadets at the United States Air Force Academy.
Contrary to public opinion, she is looking to follow her own path, not duplicate that of her father.
“He told me, ‘Maddy, I’m not pushing you,’” said Wawryzniak, the president of the National Honor Society at H-H. “People ask me that a lot. He was an influence, but it was all my decision.”
Her father’s standing in the Marines helped in the intense application process, but Wawrzyniak – with her GPA just under 4.0 (she is still ruminating about a B last year in AP chemistry) and a myriad of other accomplishments, including being the captain of the swim team – was a prime candidate to do what she felt was best for her and live out a mission to serve her country.
She toured the Air Force Academy through a connection with a family friend whose sister coaches the track team. A cadet, who is the captain of the flight team, gave her a one-on-one tour.
From watching cadets march in formation and attending classes to taking in the location in the Rocky Mountains, it was love at first sight.
At that moment, thoughts of attending another school faded.
“My first impression was that just the scenery was gorgeous,” she said. “It was just absolutely beautiful – one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.”
And she has seen quite a few places in her life, with the innate ability to visualize herself in those settings.
“I would say that moving around so much has influenced me,” she said. “I know how to deal with change.”
And the last change, landing her in this area, worked out for the best.
“I’m glad we decided to settle here,” she said, “although I kind of hated Pennsylvania at first.”
Part of that was the fact that swimming is not exactly the big-time sport it is in California.
She first caught the swimming bug from her next-door neighbors in Carlsbad, Calif., Corwin and Spencer DiDio, each of whom went on to become big-time NCAA swimmers. They took young Maddy under their wing and became role models.
When the family chose the Philadelphia suburbs – a midway point between Dan’s home turf of New Jersey and Mindy’s in Maryland – she continued swimming, but for herself, at the club level.
It was a culture shock joining the H-H swim team as a freshman, with the key word being “team.”
“I wouldn’t say I was immature,” she said. “I was just incredibly ignorant and clueless about being a member of a team. I had to learn how to react to the team aspect, rather than the individual, which is what I was used to.”
The change was not lost on H-H swim coach Kip Emig, who has witnessed her transformation first-hand.
“Maddy is one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated swimmers on our team,” he said. “Maddy has always made swimming a top priority and her work ethic is second to none. It has been my pleasure to watch her grow and mature into the wonderful athlete and young lady that she is today.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The feeling is mutual.
Wawrzyniak lists Emig a close second, behind her parents, as an inspiration and influence in her life.
In many ways, he became the flip side to her dad who she said “ruled with an iron fist” and needed to be “warmed up to” over the years.
She uses words like “compassionate” to describe Emig, who she says is a far cry from “the typical high school coach” portrayed on television and movies.
“He is one of the greatest people I ever met,” said Wawrzyniak. “It’s not only his coaching, but his outlook on life. He cares about each and every one of his athletes as people.”
As captain, Wawrzyniak finds herself as a bridge from the coach to the other swimmers, as well as a sounding board and role model.
She relishes the role.
“The best way to describe being a captain is, definitely, as a role model,” said Wawrzyniak, a state hopeful in the 100 breaststroke. “I’m someone the other girls are looking up to, and it’s a great feeling to have people look up to me. As a captain, you have to act your best at all times.”
But it all just can’t be talk. The leading by example aspect includes dedication to your craft.
“That is absolutely who I am,” said Wawrzyniak, whose younger brother Brendan, is a sophomore who participates in baseball and wrestling for the Hatters. “I put 110 percent into everything I do. It comes from my love of the sport. I love going to practice every day and just being with my teammates.”
Wawrzyniak found out around Christmas time -- in a phone call from Sen. Pat Toomey and then a letter from the academy dated Dec. 25 – that she was realizing her dream of acceptance into the Air Force Academy, which she said would have kept pursuing, by attending another school and joining ROTC and reapplying, if she had not gotten in this time around.
She admits that it carries extra respect, and responsibility, around school and on the team.
“I have had kids come up to me and thank me for what I am doing,” she said. “I think it does (make a difference).
“I’m really not a person who boasts or brags, but I definitely think they look up to me because of that.”
Wawrzyniak realizes that her past, present and future are soon to collide at the Air Force Academy.
Like that little girl who enjoyed packing up and heading to her next adventure, she will do it again with sky-high expectations that include swimming as part of a bigger goal of a career in the Air Force as a doctor.
The Falcons have had NCAA champions and have sent swimmers to the Olympics, so she is aware that walking on to the team is the only realistic route.
And from life experience, she already knows all about a bigger world and her small, but honorable, place within it.
“I’m looking to swim in college,” she said. “I’d be happy to be a walk-on. I talked to the coach, who was definitely interested in me walking on.
“I would be a small fish in a big sea, but all I want is to make a small contribution to the team while also serving my country.”
