By Louis Durand, News Reporter, Nathan McLean, Videographer

The Berry swim team competed at this year’s SAA championship, where they named freshman Nick Fonzo Swimmer of the Year. Nick has been swimming for around 10 years, since he was nine years old. He pushes himself to improve his time and beat Berry’s school record for the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter backstroke as well as winning the SAA meet record for 100-m backstroke. Fonzo said that he is pleased that his hard work paid off.

“It felt great,” Fonzo said. “I put in a lot of work, and it is good to be rewarded for all the hard work I put in this season.”

Fonzo explained that his coach had a big part in helping him reach his goals this season. He said that his swim coach pushes the team hard, having them train eight times a week for six days and exercise both in and out of the water to improve their techniques. Fonzo described the impact his coach has had on him personally.

“He [instilled] a lot of things into my everyday life that I didn’t know that I could do and believed in me a lot this year,” Fonzo said. “But I say overall, probably my coach is my biggest inspiration.”

One of Fonzo’s biggest inspirations to start swimming was his brother. When Fonzo was younger, his brother played lacrosse and was very dedicated. Fonzo wanted to find a sport of his own to love and eventually he dedicated himself to swimming just as his brother dedicated himself to lacrosse.

When Fonzo isn’t training, he likes spending his time with his friends and playing golf. While he doesn’t have much time since he is always training and doing schoolwork, he tries to enjoy the time he does have off.

Fonzo is well accomplished as a freshman swimmer, while he also won Men’s High-Point Swimmer, Newcomer Swimmer, and is currently practicing for the Olympic trials this summer. Fonzo has been making waves this semester and many people believe that he will continue to perform well.