- December 20, 2024
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Four Seabreeze swimmers and one diver made it to a state meet Nov. 8. But competing there is harder than it looks.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
If you watch sports often enough, it's easy to become desensitized to just how much skill is involved with what's happening onscreen.
The best way to put things back into perspective, for me, is to think about what I could reasonably do, given an opportunity to prepare. When I go through that process, the achievements of four Seabreeze swimmers and one diver becomes even more impressive.
In the Nov. 8 state swimming and diving meet, Mackenzie McNamara, Ivy Rizzi, Miranda Creggar and Marlena Pigliacampi finished 11th in the 400 freestyle relay. Sierra Schlossberg finished 13th in diving. Pigliacampi also finished 10th in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 butterfly.
If I was thrown into a pool deeper than I can stand, I’d describe my swimming ability as being able to not drown. I’m not sure exactly how long I could keep up this survival instinct, and I’d prefer not to find out.
What matters here is I can’t swim, unless it is quite literally to save my life. And there's these five, who do it so effortlessly that the work behind their results can sometimes be overlooked.
To get to the state meet, they not only had to compete all year, but also make it through district and regional meets, where the competition increased at each level.
Once at states, they had prelims in the morning and the real deal later in the day. That would be like a football team traveling to the site of the state championship game, playing the semi final in the morning and then the championship in the afternoon.
Pigliacampi also happens to be a sophomore. And she finished third in the 100 butterfly. To coach Paige Beauregard, anyway, that's no small feat.
So next time you’re watching a game, be it from your couch or the stands, think about what it would take for you to get out there and jump into the deep end.
I have a feeling you’ll see the game differently.
