Sports: Fitch’s John Marcolina is The Day’s All-Area Boys’ Swimmer of the Year
Fitch’s John Marcolina created a season filled with highlights as ECC’s most valuable swimmer
As an 8-year old, John Marcolina was given a choice. During trips with his older brother to the Ocean Community YMCA in Mystic, Marcolina's mother, Kerry, told him that he could read a book or swim.
Marcolina never knew at the time the impact his decision would have on his future. He picked flip turns over flipping pages. "My mom actually dragged me into it because she was forcing me to read while my brother swam, so that's how I started," Marcolina said. "That was only a couple times a week at the Mystic Y. She said you could either read or join the swim team, so I chose join the swim team."
Marcolina's swimming career has gradually taken off since that day.
A Fitch High School junior, Marcolina had a highlight-filled season. He earned all-state honors and took home the Swimmer of the Meet award at the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship for the second straight year.
He was named The Day's 2018 All-Area Swimmer of the Year, adding that award to his lengthy list of accomplishments.
Ken Berg, coach of the Fitch/Stonington/Ledyard/Norwich Tech cooperative swim team, called Marcolina the "hardest working kid on the team."
"What makes him good is he listens and tries to do what works," Berg said. "He's very strong. He's all muscle and he's lean. He pays a lot of attention to what he puts in his body. He's mature and athletically advanced."
Marcolina started to get serious about competitive swimming about three years ago, according to Berg. He became a student of the sport, studying video of his performances to search for ways to improve and shave seconds off his time. Positive results followed. "He wants to win," Berg said. "And he seeks it out. He's been to a couple of camps . ... He watches film of himself. He's really a student of it. That's what the elite kids do."
Marcolina piled up the points this season with his best
performances in the biggest meets.
At the ECC championship, Marcolina dominated the sprint events. He broke the meet record in the 50-yard freestyle, winning in 21.35 seconds, topping the mark held by former Fitch great Dakota Williams, who posted a 21.84 in 2014.
"I knew if I did everything right that I'd get the record because I put in the training in and out of the pool and put in the mental preparation," Marcolina said.
Marcolina also finished first in the 100 freestyle in 48.52, as well as swimming a leg on the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
His successful run continued at the Class L meet, where he placed second in the 50 freestyle (21.53), fourth in the 100 freestyle (47.93) and competed on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team.
Marcolina capped his season by taking a career-best third in a personal best 21.12 seconds in the 50 freestyle. He also competed in the 100 freestyle (ninth, 47.70) and on the 200 freestyle relay team (10th).
He considers the third-place finish in the State Open the highlight of his season.
"I was just happy with the time," Marcolina said. "I didn't really care about the place as much because I knew I had more after ECCs."
Swimming has grown into a yearround sport for Marcolina. He competes on the club level for the Connecticut Aquatic Club.
Competing against high-level competition motivated him to work even harder.
"Seeing a lot of faster swimmers and seeing the other side of the state swim, all those guys just go ridiculously fast," he said. "That pushed me a lot more. I want to get to that level. I want to see what I'm capable of."
His goals for next season include winning the State Open in both the 50 and 100 freestyle. He'd also like to try some other events like the butterfly and breaststroke. He doesn't want to be known as just a sprinter. He also wants to swim in college. g.keefe@theday.com