Oratory has a wide range of sports for students to choose. Soccer, lacrosse, basketball, track, and the topic of this article, competitive swimming. It takes significant strength and stamina to swim very fast and therefore requires practice. I wanted to interview the three swim team captains, Connor Gilheany, Michael Milano and Jason Steinberg, to get a sense of what the sport is like and how they got into it. Jason, Michael, and Connor are all in the twelfth grade.  However, I was unable to interview them in person due to conflicting schedules and had to interview them via email.

Michael W: How did You Get into swimming?

Jason: “I have a pool in my backyard so I learned how to swim at a young age.  My parents pushed me towards competitive swimming and I just stuck with it.”

Connor: “Freshman year I had just transferred into Oratory in mid October. Jason Steinberg sent out an email to our class saying that the swim team needed members, and I figured it would be a good way to get to meet some people.”

Michael M: “I got into swimming really at the persuasion of my father. He taught me how to swim, and knew I would be good at it like he was. He was a top swimmer in his high school and was the best swimmer on the St. John’s swim team when he was there. So really swimming is something that is very prevalent in my family. I also got into it to lose some weight because it is great exercise.”

Michael W: What is your favorite thing about swimming?

Connor: “My favorite thing about swimming is probably the feeling of winning a close relay. In fact that’s probably the only good part about swimming. Other than that it’s really just exhausting and nerve-racking. “

Michael M: “My favorite thing about swimming is that it is something that is fun to do while losing weight. I also very much enjoy swimming with the other people on the swim team. I have made many friends this way.”

Jason: “I like swimming with and against my friends, it is fun to see how others improve and how well you can do too.”

Michael W: How were you picked to be a captain on the swim team?

Connor:  “Last year there were no seniors on the team, so the juniors had to take the leadership roles. Ultimately the decision was up to the coaches, who picked me and Jason. Going into this year we had gotten a new coach, who picked (via votes and personal decision) me Jason and Mike.”

Jason: “The team voted and I was one of the swimmers picked.  Last year the coaches made me a captain because they thought I could be a good leader.”

Michael M: “I was picked to be a captain by the rest of the team voting for me.”

Michael W: How do you and your teammates normally practice?

Jason: “We are split into 3-4 lanes, by skill, and are given sets by the coach and we try our hardest to make the times and improve our strokes.”

Michael M: “We normally practice by first, splitting up into lanes by speed. Then we do a quick warm up then get into our main sets. We have to do the warm up pretty quickly as we don’t have too much time.”

Connor: “We practice by swimming 6 times a week at The Connection and the Summit YMCA. On Mondays and Wednesdays we have morning practice, which totally kills us for the rest of the day. Sunday nights we have practice from 5-6:30, and so as soon as the practice ends we know that we have to be back there in 11 hours.”

Michael W: What do you think of this year’s swim team?

Michael M: “I think this swim team has a lot of talent. This year and for years in the future I expect us to do well. We would be the first to do so in some time, as the swim team has not been good since at least five years ago. I feel our school can have a chance to reclaim some of our former swimming glory, as we were very good. We won our division like twelve or thirteen years in a row.”

Connor: “This years swim team is definitely an improvement from last year. We’ve gained a number of freshmen club swimmers who provide (at the very least) a good amount of depth. Some have stepped into even bigger roles – for example, Ian Ellmer won the 100 backstroke and the New Prov meet on Tuesday (that’s just one example though, many of the other freshmen have stepped up). Brendan Koziol has decided to swim for us this year, and though he hasn’t been able to be at one of our meets thus far we expect him to make an appearance against GL on Tuesday. Kid’s a stud.”

Jason: “I think this is going to be one of our best years, talent wise.  In our conference we swim top state schools so it is tough to have a great record, but a lot of our swimmers are strong and we will have some formidable times.”

Michael W: How do you pumped for going against another team in swimming.

Jason:  “I listen to music on the bus ride. I listen to a weird mix of music; rap, rock, punk rock, reggae, classic rock.”

Michael M: “Personally, I like to listen to a lot of music. I know there is certain music I can listen to in certain situations, and I have songs that pump me up and get me in the right mood for swimming another team. It is also important for me to have music because I swim the 500 freestyle, which is twenty laps, and I have to have a song stuck in my head during it, or it can get either really boring or you start worrying and thinking too much about the race.”

Connor: “Personally, I like to listen to music on the bus before the meet. Swimming is as mental as it is physical, so it’s important to get in the right mindset.”

Michael W: “What could you say to our readers, who haven’t joined the swim team, to persuade them to join it?”

Connor: “Swimming is great exercise and definitely helps prepare for any spring sports. You can’t go wrong with joining a team where you’re in a locker room with Max Picut.”

Jason: “If you do not do a winter sport you should definitely swim, it’s a great way to stay in shape.  You also get a chance to meet other Oratory students and it lets others see how tough the sport of swimming really is.”

Michael M: “You get to make a lot of friends, get great exercise and would most likely get a varsity letter.”

Michael W: What is your fastest lap to date?

Michael M: “I guess the fastest single lap I’ve ever done was around 15 seconds, but the fastest 500 freestyle I’ve done was around 6 minutes and 20 seconds.”

Connor: “My fastest 50 is a 24.20 freestyle and a 26.40 butterfly.”

Jason: “My fastest 50 free ever was 23.67  My fastest 100 breaststroke was 1.07:31”

Michael W: Do you have any final words for our readers?

Jason: “Swimming is a lot of work and is very strenuous, but it is my favorite time of the year because it is such a fun time.”

Connor: “Come to the Summit meet, I promise we’ll win a relay. Maybe.”

Michael M: “Just that swimming is really fun and I honestly wouldn’t be half of the person I am today without it.”

After reading these responses, I can see what Oratory’s  proud swim team is like. They are strong, intelligent, hard working, and dedicated to what they do. Connor, Jason and Michael are great swimmers who love swimming and work hard to get better at it. More students should join the swim team and see what it’s like. If more students join, then the swim team could get even better.