By LAURA BORRELLI
Staff Writer
For many, the concept of an athletic team is like that of an extended family. They are together whether at practice, in class, or just walking around campus. The men and women’s swim team at The College of Saint Rose may be small but they are greatly bonded. One of the swimmers within this family, Colleen Quaglia, shattered over five school records and was one of four swimmers in the NE-10 Conference to go to NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championship.
East Greenbush native, Quaglia is a sophomore pursuing a major in accounting. Her teammates are her family, but she also has the support of her true family as she goes through her swimming endeavors. She was not the first in her family to call Saint Rose her second home. Her two older sisters Danielle and Karin Quaglia both attended Saint Rose. Danielle has already graduated with a degree in communications, and Karin is graduating with her bachelors and masters in education with a concentration in math this year, and was also a member of the swim team. Her mother, Ellen Schuler, is the assistant coach of the Saint Rose Swimming and Diving Team.
Swimming is a big part of Quaglia’s life. Quaglia has been swimming since she was 4-years-old.
“It brings me pure joy. Swimming is a challenging sport, but when I saw the older kids swimming fast, I wanted to be just like them so I taught myself to swim,” Quaglia said. She had the potential to go to a Division I athletic program, but she loved Saint Rose and is grateful for the opportunities she has had thus far.
“The swim team here is like family and a safe space,” said Quaglia. “Saint Rose provides a balance between swimming and academics.” The swim team at Saint Rose keeps Quaglia “grounded and helps [her] stay on a schedule.”
After a long season of training hard and countless hours in the pool, Quaglia qualified to swim at NCAA Division II Championships in three events. She went to Indianapolis from March 13-16 for the first time in her college career to the meet.
“It was really exciting when I found out that I made it to Nationals. It was a new opportunity for me,” said Quaglia.
Over the course of four days, Quaglia swam the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 200 fly. She was seeded 28th in the 500 with a 4.57.40. Friday morning in the preliminaries, she dropped time and went a 4:56.47, dropped 15 places, and had the opportunity to swim at finals seeded 13th overall in Division II across the nation.
At finals she added around two seconds, but placed 16th overall with a 4:58.27. Quaglia left the meet with an All-American Title.
“Nationals not only hyped me up, but the team as well because we have high hopes to get more people to Nationals next year,” Quaglia said.
Head Coach, Keith Murray, is very proud of Quaglia and her accomplishments.
“Colleen trains hard everyday and comes in ready to compete,” he said. “She is a great competitor. It is a great indication of hard work paying off.” Quaglia is very grateful to not only have her teammates as her family, but Coach Murray as well.
“Keith pushes me to become a better swimmer, and makes me go out of my comfort zone, and everyday is a new challenge,” Quaglia said.
Gabrialla Ficano, a junior on the swim team also made the B-cut for the National Championship meet, but just missed it. Quaglia hopes that next year, she and Ficano will be able to go together along with new and upcoming athletes to represent Saint Rose.
Quaglia has many friends on the team, but looks up to Ficano in particular. Ficano is a junior on the team majoring in graphic design.
“She’s my training partner,” said Ficano. “We lift, swim, eat, and share weird rituals together. Every year at championships we require that we room together. Most people would think that the two of us together is a disaster waiting to happen considering I’ve broken two showers rooming with her. Between our individual quirks and aromatherapy we’ve found the perfect recipe for fast swimming.”
Ficano loves the energy Quaglia brings and her weird rituals that mean so much to her.
“Before every meet Colleen MUST pray to the Saint Rose swimming and diving ‘legends,’Matt Kavanagh and Brandon Birchak to give us success in the pool and hopefully a NCAA Cut,” Ficano said.
Quaglia is not only accomplished in the water, but with her studies as well. Liam Grady, a senior and fellow teammate, emphasizes Quaglia’s ability to balance swimming and academics.
“She has a 4.0 GPA! She is quite literally the perfect example of a student athlete,” Grady said. He has been able to spend two years with Quaglia and watch her grow from a freshman to a sophomore. Grady said that she is a huge part of the swim family. “Colleen is a superstar! Both as an athlete, but as a person as well. She brings an infectious energy and a positive vibe,” said Grady.
Support from her teammates and coaches are invaluable to Quaglia. This year especially being alone for Nationals, Quaglia wanted to be with her teammates as much as she could before she went away. Quaglia’s love for the sport and her teammates assist her to be the best athlete she can be.
“The team is extremely close we are just like a big family and that means a lot to me because we lean on each other and support one another through everything and that is exactly what you need in college,” said Quaglia.
She values each and everyone of her teammates. Just like a family, the team is very close and can have disagreements, but with these challenges, Quaglia learned from the others and has become the strong independent student athlete she is today.
Laura Borrelli is a member of the Women’s Swimming and Dive Team.
