Deerfield Swimmers End 9 Years Of Competing Together At Sectional

DEERFIELD, IL — For the past four years, Bella Flaminio, Viki Turos and Kyla Wolski have been competing together as members of the Deerfield High School varsity girls swimming and diving team. The elite swimmers, who will be swimming in college, have had solid careers for retiring coach John Sullivan.

The three seniors will compete one final time together at the high school level at the Highland Park Sectional on Saturday. It's obviously been a season like no other due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Although we can't have spectators at our meets, or other teams visiting our pool, it made me realize that I need to appreciate even the little things such as getting any time in the pool, because other schools may not be as fortunate," Turos said.

Coaches and parents have made the best effort to ensure this season was a memorable one for the swimmers despite the many challenges. While other sports like football and girls volleyball got pushed out of the fall season, girls swimming and diving remained, though with many tweaks to the way things are normally done.

For example, parents watch meets on Zoom or from windows outside the pool as swimmers compete in front of empty stands. While the Illinois Department of Public Health classifies swimming as lower risk for the coronavirus, many new precautions and guidelines were implemented to ensure the safety of all involved.

"There was so much uncertainty going into the season. I think most of us were prepared to get shut down after a week or two. We even did a lot of our senior night traditions at our first virtual meet in case we wouldn't be able to later," Wolski said. "Despite all this uncertainty, the team really took advantage of the opportunities we were given. We all worked hard and tried to keep the same mentality as if it were a pandemic-free year."

Through it all, the swimmers and divers on the Deerfield varsity squad remained united during another successful season, both in terms of accomplishments in the pool and the growth outside the water as teammates.

"Having close friends to get you through the highs and lows of the season is so important," Flaminio said. "We’re together through the best and worst of our meets and push each other to do our best every day."

The bond between the three girls goes back much further than the varsity team. Starting at the age of eight and while in the second grade, the trio began swimming with the COHO Swim Club. Founded in 1971, COHO is a co-sponsored program of the Deerfield Park District and the Park District of Highland Park with a long-standing rich tradition and history of success in swimming on the local, regional, and national levels.

"I've known a lot of my teammates since we swam together on COHO Swim Club in second grade," Wolski said. "I still keep in touch with my teammates who've gone off to college. They may be the ones who've gotten me through difficult sets, but they're also the best friends I've ever had."

Fast-forward to 2017 and the girls began competing at the varsity level for Sullivan. Hard work, including 5 a.m. and twice-a-day practices, have paid off with accomplishments like state-qualifying 200 and 400-yard freestyle relay teams during their junior years and plans to swim at college. They owe a lot of it to their retiring coach.

"Coach Sullivan has been a huge influence on me. He's just someone you respect because he always shows you nothing but respect," Turos said.

She recalls her freshman year being a little afraid of him because of his "go, go, go" practice style. Training sessions are often filled with restarts and high-octane energy from Sullivan that permeates throughout the pool.

"Coach Sullivan always inspires us to go the extra mile and give it our all no matter what," Flaminio said. "Most of all, Coach Sull taught me to never get hung up on a bad swim and to keep moving forward when it gets hard. I hope I can find a coach as dedicated and motivational as him when I swim at the next level."

While Turos, Wolski and Flaminio say they're committed to swimming at college next fall, they are still figuring out exactly where they want to go. Turos will be undergoing back surgery next month that will put her out of the water for about five months.

"Even after this surgery it will be difficult to learn how to swim again, but I am up for the challenge," Turos said. "Another one of my teammates got a similar surgery last year, and she made a wonderful recovery, so I hope to do the same."

Wolksi plans to study atmospheric sciences in college with the goal of becoming a meteorologist some day. She is mostly looking at schools in the Midwest.

"If the coronavirus pandemic helped me realize one thing, it's how much I love swimming. After being forced out of the pool, I understood just how important it is to me," Wolski said. "I want to continue my swimming career in college and hopefully throughout the rest of my life as a Masters swimmer."

Flaminio is also excited about swimming at the next level as she considers what school she's going to attend. Like her teammates, she learned a lot about herself this season.

"The coronavirus has really made us value our time in the pool and made us realize that we need to swim every practice like it's our last because we never know what could happen," Flaminio said.