Journal Standard
  • Prep Boys Swimming: Alex Cornacchia wills himself to become better swimmer

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  • Swimming wasn't Alex Cornacchia's favorite activity as a kid.
    "It wasn't as fun when I was little," the Freeport senior said. "In high school, I needed a sport to get into shape."
    A filler sport for Cornacchia, who also played tennis and for a time ran cross country, turned into a passion even after some difficult times in the pool.
    "Up until this year, he's been kind of a back burner of a swimmer," Freeport swimming coach Christy Evans said. "This year, he's taken over because he's worked so hard to become a better swimmer."
    Cornacchia was a freshman when he joined the swimming team, which is an arduous sport at the high school level even for swimmers who have been in the pool for years.
    It was a grind for Cornacchia, who hadn't swam competitively since he was 9 years old.
    "It was totally new for me," he said. "It was hard to get back into it just learning all the strokes again.
    "It was very difficult. It was almost like starting a new sport."
    There isn't a lot of glamour that comes from being an average swimmer. Cornacchia admits he was probably a notch or two below that mark. But unlike a player on the bench in sports like basketball, football or baseball, all swimmers race in mostly the same events regardless of skill and time.
    And those times are on display for everyone to see. It can be difficult for some not to just quit and move on.
    "It's very difficult," Cornacchia said. "I wasn't in the lowest group (of swimmers) but I was in the second-to-lowest group. But I was good at kicking. It was hard to come back after freshman year.
    "I thought, 'Do I really want to do this again?' But I did and I started getting better and better."
    Cornacchia wound up hitting 24.72 seconds in the 50 freestyle, which is currently a personal record.
    "That's when I realized, 'Hey, I'm actually good at this,'" he said.
    Evans credits Cornacchia's ultra-competitive nature to his ability to improve in the pool. He also made a commitment to swimming that surprised her.
    "He's probably one of the hardest workers I've coached in a long time," Evans said. "He was a three-year varsity cross country runner, but he didn't do it this year because he wanted to train for swimming.
    "That was a big decision, but he wanted to train because he had so much potential. He started seeing that he has a chance at being good. That shocked me. I didn't know he wasn't going to do cross country."
    Evans said Cornacchia was in better shape by the start of his senior season. But it's not all physical for the senior. Cornacchia brings the same competitiveness to the classroom; he's currently tops in his graduating class.
    Page 2 of 2 - "He's a brainiac," Evans said. "He started watching other people's times and said he can get faster and beat people. He looked at it more from a strategic standpoint. He analyzes everything. Most swimmers just go out and race."
    Speaking of races, Cornacchia is in an academic race with fellow swimmer Leigh Hartog. The four-time girls swimming state qualifier is neck and neck with him. Cornacchia, who will attend Ohio State in the fall, holds a slight edge with a 4.298 GPA.
    "I'm winning right now in GPA," he said. "I just gotta get through this semester with all A's and then I should have it."
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