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11/09/2016 11:00 PMAngela Gambardella wants to be a storied swimmer at North Haven and, even though she’s only a freshman, Angela looks like she’s well on her way to doing just that. Angela has had a great debut campaign with the Indians and recently earned All-SCC honors in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley with her performance at the conference championship meet.
“I loved it. It was so much fun. Everyone was so competitive, but everyone on the high school team motivated everyone,” Angela says. “It was so much fun. I definitely want to rep North Haven to the best of my ability. All my teammates did great, too, and I’m so proud of everyone.”
Angela also contributed to a historic night in a relay at the SCC Championship. Angela swam with Callyn Priebe, Lauren Spencer, and Laura Borrelli on the 400 freestyle relay and the group finished fifth with a time of 3:45.54, which set a school record.
“I definitely want to break some more records,” says Angela. “We just broke that at the SCC meet by a second. We were so excited, jumping up and down. It was pretty fun.”
In her individual events, Angela placed second in the breaststroke at 1:07.12 and she was third in the 200 IM with a 2:12.65. Her time in the IM also marked her lifetime-best performance for that event. Angela says the breaststroke is her best out of the four strokes. Even though many athletes say that it’s the most-difficult one to swim fluidly throughout a race, Angela enjoys doing the breaststroke and she’s excelled in it.
“I can swim everything, but the breaststroke is definitely my favorite. I’ve made USA Sectionals, which is in [Ithaca, New York] this spring, and that’s what I placed second in at SCCs,” Angela says. “Breaststroke just kind of came to me. I definitely like the challenge it gives me because it’s not an easy stroke. I can flow with it because of the rhythm that it has.”
Angela started swimming at a very young age and one of the reasons she still does it is because of the community feel at the pool with how everyone motivates each other and cheers for one another. Angela spends a lot of time practicing and is striving toward some big-time goals that extend beyond North Haven.
“I’m in the pool six out of the seven days per week for at least two hours. I’ve had to make some decisions, like last year, when I had to skip the 8th-grade formal because I want to attain my goals. It’s definitely a hard decision, but if I look at the goals I want to achieve, hopefully, it’ll all be worth it,” she says. “I’d like to be in the Olympics in 2020, but this year, my goal is to be in Junior Nationals. From there, I can make the Olympic Trials.”
Indians’ Head Coach Martha Phelan says that Angela has displayed great maturity as a freshman and appreciates how hard she works in order to see success. Phelan knows that Angela has tremendous potential that she can realize through the next three seasons.
“It can be intimidating for a freshman to make the transition from age group competition to high school, but Angela embraced all the challenges throughout this season. Angela is quietly determined and has clear goals about what she wants to accomplish. She is very coachable and a joy to have on the team,” says Coach Phelan. “There are no distinctions between grades on this team. Angela, along with her teammates, understand success is something to be earned by consistent, hard work. Respect for others and good sportsmanship added to the mix has created a positive environment for Angela and the team to thrive in. I am confident Angela will continue to get better and that this is just the beginning of a stellar high school career.”