Rosary seniors take aim at another state championship

Like an ancient arrowhead, swim seasons all work toward a singular point - the state meet.

And like those arrowheads, swimmers work all season, chipping away loose bits, honing their craft until they are ready to fly through the water like one of those arrows flew through air, ready to slay the competition.

Most of the top swimmers still have some work to be done, but the final work is now being done throughout the state. Most conference meets take place this weekend. All state sectionals are Nov. 8 while the state finals are Nov. 14-15 at Evanston. This three-meet sequence of conference-sectional-state is known as "Championship Season."

For the past two years, no school's swimmers have flown through the water with more efficiency than those at Rosary. The Beads won the school's first state title in 2006, defended that crown a year ago and go for their third straight title this November.

"It's one of the greatest experiences, being on the first team to win a state title, not only for swimming but for the school," Rosary swimmer Kara Savegnago said. "I think it's a new chapter for Rosary swimming. I think things will be great for Rosary swimming for years after we graduate."

Savegnago is one of three seniors who have been on the Beads' state team through both championships and is to be part of the group aiming for the three-peat. The others are Elisabeth Tavierne and Kally Fayhee.

"My freshman year, I really thought we were going to do it," Savegnago said. "It was really disappointing. But the seniors really prepared us for a great season. Sophomore year, I really felt like we were ready."

Just three weeks remain in the girls swimming season. Swimmers work hard all season and then rest at the end in a process known as tapering. Junior varsity swimmers and varsity athletes not heading to the sectional meet will taper this week. The sectional team will hold its taper until the week before the state meet. There is much symbolism attached to tapering, and it always signals the end of the season.

For Savegnago, Tavierne and Fayhee, this year's taper also marks the their last few days as high school swimmers.

"It feels like we just started," Tavierne said. "I mean, I don't feel like a freshman. But the process has gone by in a short time and I can't believe it's about to end."

The state swim meet has one of the best atmospheres in IHSA athletics. While there aren't enough seats to allow all those who want to attend, those seats are always packed. The seats are right on top of the pool area and the noise cascades over those on-deck, making it literally impossible to hear during the big races.

The scene on deck is also a form of choreographed chaos. There are more athletes on a limited desk space, the media is present as at no time in the season and those packed stands help increase the air temperature to summertime levels.

In the middle of all that, athletes know that only 12 move to Saturday and only 6 to the championship heat from which the state titlist will emerge.

For these past two years, Rosary has been better than any team in the state at performing under these conditions, a group who are collective a very real calm in a storm.

"Some people can be nervous, but we're all excited," Tavierne said. "We all want to do our best and become a strong team. I want to give it my all and I know it's the same for the other seniors. It's our last year and we want to show what we've got."

Most swimmers with state title aspirations won't start tapering until the week leading to the sectional and some will hold that resting process until the week of the state meet. But on every team, there are junior varsity swimmers who have started resting in preparation for the conference meet, which is their final competition of the season.

"Right now is when it starts to get exciting," Savegnago said. "It starts to break up. Some people start to taper, and the team gets smaller and smaller as the weeks go by. The next two weeks, it'll be narrowed to our sectional team and then those of us going to state."

Talking to varsity swimmers at this point is a lesson in similarity. Savegnago, Tavierne and Fayhee all spoke in a sort of alto monotone.

"I think we're all really exhausted," Fayhee said. "We're all dark under our eyes. With school and swimming, it's a tough combination. You get home from practice and you do your homework and you go to bed. You wake up early in the morning and you do it all over again. I think it's definitely wearing on us, but that just makes taper even better. If you're really tired and then you rest for two weeks and that makes taper even better."

Even tired, Rosary knows that a constant level of intense work makes for monotony. So the Beads find ways to vary things or to have fun. On one recent morning, the team spent a few minutes hula hooping in the school gym after weight training and before school started.

"I think you've got to have a little bit of fun," Fayhee said. "You can't be serious all the time. We're serious in practice and we're serious in our dry land workouts. But after practice, you have to have a little fun, just to lighten the mood."

This year's seniors have spent the last four Septembers and Octobers preparing for four November versions of championship season. Of those 12 months of high school swimming, only one remains, the 2008 race to the title.

"I think it was (2005 Rosary grad) Patty Descenza who told me before she left that it goes by really fast and to not want or try to be a senior my freshman, sophomore or junior year," Fayhee said. "I didn't believe her at the time. I thought freshman year was going so slowly. Honestly, it's gone by so fast. I wish I'd slowed down like she said. It does go by really fast."

Fast - that's the byword for November everywhere. There are a lot of aquatic arrows ready to fly.