El Dorado's Izzy Gati commits to University of Kentucky.
EL DORADO - El Dorado native and current student-athlete at The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia, Izzy Gati, capped off her junior swim season by verbally committing to the University of Kentucky. Gati announced her decision last week.
“As of now, my biggest accomplishment is committing to the University of Kentucky,” she said. “I recently announced my verbal commitment to swim for them and I am still getting use to the fact that I achieved my goal of going to a DI, SEC school for swimming. When I visited the campus, I fell in love with the campus, team, and coaches. They were incredibly nice and welcoming. I can't wait to continue my swimming career for them.”
As a junior, Gati won the VISAA State Championship in the 100 butterfly and was second in the 200 freestyle. She was named second-team All-Metropolitan, which covers the surrounding District of Columbia cities, ranging from Virginia to Maryland.
“This season for swimming has been my best one so far. Both my club season and high school season were very successful. I am very grateful to have received the honors I was given. Before this season I sat down with Coach John, my club coach, and we went over goals for my high school meets,” Gati said.
“I wouldn't say that I am surprised at how well I did because of all the hard work I've been putting in but that I am happy that all my hard work in and out of the pool is finally paying off. It is very rewarding to see all the hours I spend in the pool paying off.”
Gati said winning state in the 100 butterfly was a primary goal. Madeira had won that event for three years in a row.
“I wanted to keep the event title in Madeira's name,” she said. “That was such a fun race because all my team-
mates were at the end of my lane. I definitely could not have gone as fast as I did without their support. Also, by winning the 100 fly qualified me as an all-state swimmer and means I now have been a state champion in two different states in the 100 fly.”
Gati won the Arkansas High School 6A-7A 100 butterfly as a freshman at El Dorado.
The daughter of El Dorado’s Kenneth and Daion Gati has also found success outside of the pool at Madeira.
“I ran for a student leadership position,” she said. “For my senior year I have been voted to be a Red Team Captain. Red team captain is a leader for our spirit group. There are two red team captains and two white team captains. I had to give a speech to the whole school and then the whole school gets to vote; lucky I was voted be one.
“Also, I just finished a fiveweek internship with Senator (John) Boozman. It was an honor to be able to work for him in his office on Capitol Hill. I enjoyed the experience and learned so much from it.”