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01/03/2018 11:00 PMFrom the moment he stepped foot in the United States, swimming has been a central aspect in Paul O’Connor’s life. Paul was adopted into the country from Russia, and one of the first activities he did in the U.S. was go swimming in the Long Island Sound with his grandfather. Paul started swimming competitively at age six and began building up the skills that have helped him make a major splash as a member of the Hand boys’ swimming and diving squad.
As a junior last year, Paul earned All-State honors for the 100 breaststroke by placing third with a time of 1:00.97 at the Class M State Championship. Paul later notched a school-record mark of 1:00.48 at the State Open Championship, and he’s also swam on record-breaking 200 medley (1:43.62) and 400 freestyle (3:18.72) relays with the Tigers. Now, Paul is looking to make even bigger waves as a senior this winter.
“That race was exceptional. All of my training and accomplishments go back to my coaches. It helped me have an open view to the breaststroke as a stroke. I had never gone close to under a minute in it until then. I saw all my hours of training come into view,” says Paul on his All-State performance. “Most swimmers I feel are born to be breaststrokers, and I was just lucky to get that gene. I couldn’t have met all of my goals without my coaches and teammates.”
Paul admits that he struggled with some of the physical mechanics of swimming as a freshman, but his technique has improved immensely as a result of training with both the Tigers and the Soundview YMCA Stingrays in Branford. He’s also learned a lot about how to stay locked in when the pressure is on during a competition.
“I’ve improved my stroke rate throughout high school. I’ve gotten it down to help me go faster. I also improved my open turns, because they were ugly my freshman year,” Paul says. “I think most swimmers have this problem of not being able to get in and stay in a zone through their entire swim, but I somehow figured that out last year, so I could push myself to the finish.”
As a senior on this year’s squad, Paul wants to serve as a role model for Hand’s up-and-coming swimmers. Paul likes having a role in their development and then seeing the fruits of that growth on display in the pool.
“It’s nice to have the freshmen, sophomores, and even some juniors keep looking up to you,” he says. “It’s also great to remind the freshmen of how to do certain things, and then see them improve throughout the season and progress.”
Head Coach Christina Forristall says Paul’s commitment to excellence echoes throughout Hand’s roster and adds that he’s grown into a full-fledged leader for the Tigers.
“Paul swims with a lot of emotion and passion. Along with the other seniors on the team, they have seen real growth in the program and train almost daily for its success. He is a fierce competitor on race day, usually swimming back-to-back events. Paul knows he has to put everything he has into every race for the team,” says Forristall. “As a coach, watching Paul grow not only as an athlete, but as a person over the past four years has been very rewarding. His fiery passion and commitment to Hand will be hard to replace.”
After he graduates from Hand, Paul will move onto the next phase of his academic and athletic careers at Division I Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. As he sets his sights on new goals at the next level, Paul knows that he wouldn’t have been able to achieve his goals in high school without the foundation that swimming for the Tigers has provided him.
“I’m undecided between business or history as my major, but I’d like to make the conference championship finals in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in college as a freshman. For insane goals as a freshman, I want to make the NCAAs in those events and have the time of my life there,” says Paul, who thanks his entire family, his girlfriend Samantha, along with Coach Forristall, and Soundview YMCA Stingrays’ coaches Wesley Crozier and Cliff Johnson. “At Hand, seeing the camaraderie from the pool to school with the guys has been great. It’s nice to grow up with those guys around you and pushing towards team and individual goals.”