“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.” This quotation from Houston Texans all-star defender J.J. Watt describes every athlete’s drive for greatness. For some, all the work and dedication that goes into a sport is too much to bear. For others, it fuels them to go farther and faster. Waking up early and going to bed late are sacrifices made for the love of the game.
None know this dedication more than the Trinity Prep swimmers. The varsity swim team goes from morning workouts before school to a whole day in the classroom followed by more practice after school. They signed up for countless laps and strokes in the pool day after day.
“Contrary to what people may think, I actually really like morning practices,” senior swimmer Summer Heidish said. “They wake me up before the school day. It also gives me an excuse to eat two breakfasts.”
Another senior on the swim team, Matt Degtyar, agrees with Heidish.
“[I would] rather use the time to get better rather than sleep,” Degtyar said.
While Heidish and Degtyar like the early morning grind, others, such as senior Arrington Moses who has been swimming since he was in fifth grade, have a different view of morning swims.
“To be honest I dread them because we have to be in the water at 6 a.m. and usually the water is extremely cold,” Moses said. “Also it is painful during the winter time because it is so cold outside, and you can see the steam rise from the pool.”
There are a large number of seniors on the team this year, but they are ready for the challenge of leading their team to success.
“Even though we don’t have team captains, I feel a responsibility to be a leader,” Carpenter said.
Heidish agrees with Carpenter, and feels as if she has earned her spot as a senior.
“It is definitely exciting to be one of the oldest on the team,” Heidish said. “I started as one of the youngest and worked my way up. It’s a really cool feeling.”
Varsity Head Coach Rocco Aceto has been at the helm of Trinity’s swim program for 13 years now. While he believes the seniors are an important part of this team’s success, he thinks that their impact is even greater when they are out of the pool.
“I believe the senior class has had more influence than impact on the program,” Aceto said. “The seniors take academics as a serious priority, volunteer in the community and most importantly—they are good people who swim. To me, this is the best attribute any coach can seek.”
There are a total of ten seniors on the varsity team within the swimming program this year, and the vast majority of them have swam for the Saints for multiple years. They have developed friendships and created memories that will last a lifetime.
“My favorite memory is beating Lake Highland,” Carpenter said. “We have beat them two years in a row at districts, and we beat them in the preseason and are looking forward to another win in October.”
Moses’ favorite memory came out of the pool when the team went on a trip to the beach together. As for Heidish, her greatest recollection in the pool came at one of the biggest stages for a high school swimmer.
“My favorite memory is by far winning the 200 medley relay at States in 2015,” Heidish said. “My relay mates (who also happen to be my three best friends) and I had been talking about that race for six months prior to the actual day. It was such an exciting experience, and I still get butterflies when I talk about it.”
Even with the departing senior class, Aceto believes that the team will not falter in the coming years.
“Our senior class has several bodies graduating, but the bulk of our high school state championship points are from underclassmen which bodes very well for the future,” Aceto said.
One of the underclassmen is Jan Collazo, who has been swimming seven years. Collazo actually went to the junior swimming championships over this summer.
“It was a hard, rough, yet fun and enlightening experience because you are competing against the world’s best swimmers at a junior level,” Collazo said. “It’s always good to have competition. Even though that same competition makes you nervous, you still have to fight through it and never let up even when your times, your emotions and your body are fighting against you.”
Between practices, school and other extracurriculars, there seems to be very little time to do other things, such as sleep. However, it’s all about organization and perspective.
“I have a very good balance between school, swim and social [activities],” senior Anna Carpenter said. “The busier I am, the better I do.”
Heidish agrees with Carpenter.
“Balancing my commitments takes a lot of planning, but it’s worth it,” Heidish said. “I like being involved.”
Degtyar meanwhile, has an interesting take on balancing everything.
“Choose two, hope for the best,” Degtyar said.
As for the team as a whole, they all have lofty, yet realistic, expectations for the team and themselves. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams plan on being contenders at states when the time comes. With the senior class, plus many strong underclassmen, do not be surprised if both the boys’ and girls’ teams meet their goals this season.
