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10/04/2017 12:00 AMAlora McCarroll admits that she wasn’t too big on swimming when she first stepped in the pool. Several years later, however, Alora is making a big-time splash in her first year of high school as a member of the East Haven-Wilbur Cross (EH-WC) girls’ swimming and diving squad.
Alora, a freshman at East Haven High School, started swimming when her parents signed her up for lessons. Alora says that, “[I] didn’t like it at first,” but she grew accustomed to the sport and wound up joining the Soundview YMCA in Branford, a program she still swims for. Thus far in the 2017 high school season, Alora has taken first place in the 100 breaststroke several times for the EH-WC co-op squad. She also helped the Yellowjackets notch their first victory in eight years when they defeated Guilford 86-75 on Sept. 13.
“I feel like for my first year, I’m doing really well, and the team is, too. We got our first win in eight years, so I’m proud of our team,” says Alora. “I’m doing pretty good in the breaststroke, and it’s nice to see the other girls doing well there, because it adds diversity to our team.”
Alora feels that the breaststroke is the event that suits her the best. Looking at swimming as a whole, she loves the double-edged sword the sport presents with being both an individual endeavor and a team-based activity.
“I liked the backstroke at first, but I realized I was good at the breaststroke, and I got better at it as time went on. I like to think I’m fast at it,” Alora says. “Swimming is unique, because in most sports, you play with a ball. But swimming is just you and the water. I like how it is both an individual and team sport and how the whole team works towards a common goal.”
Head Coach Dave Oshana says that Alora is valuable to the Yellowjackets since she can swim just about every event. He adds that Alora is already proving the consummate teammate in the early goings of her high school career.
“She is a great kid and, as a freshman, the future of swimming in East Haven. One of Alora’s strengths is her versatility in the pool. She is able to swim all distances, from a 50-yard sprint to the 500-yard distance event. She can swim all strokes well, and her favorite stroke is the breaststroke. As a freshman, Alora has already had several outright wins in the breaststroke, often times swimming against girls who are much older,” says Oshana. “Alora is very supportive of her teammates, especially if someone is unable to swim an event. I encourage my athletes to bring their best to every meet. However, when something arises and a girl is not able to swim, I encourage others to be good teammates and fill in for one another. Alora has done this for her team this season. She also brings a positive can-do attitude to every practice and meet, which I believe rubs off on her teammates.”
Practice not only makes perfect for Alora, it also provides her with a little confidence that helps her get rid of those pre-race jitters as she goes to the starting blocks.
“Before a race, you are always nervous, but I just focus and tell myself that this is something I do in practice all the time and that I’ll be fine,” Alora says. “It’s like a mental pep talk I have with myself.”
Alora feels happy to have helped EH-WC get in the win column this season. Now, she wants everyone to keep chasing that victorious feeling, so the Yellowjackets can see even more success in the water.
“We are really looking forward to trying to add to our wins for this year,” says Alora, who thanks her first swimming coach, Jose Bedoya, and her Soundview YMCA coach, Cliff Johnson. “We’ve had a lot of close meets this season, so we are hoping to eventually add to our win column this season.”