The Blue Wave is a relatively young team. With so many freshmen and sophomores, experienced athletes like senior Abigail Max are incredibly important. Hailing from New Hartford, New York, Max has been on the team since arriving at Geneseo—coming with prior skill and an eagerness to continue swimming.
“I swam on my high school team and I started swimming competitively when I was 8 years old,” she said.
Max said that swimming has continued to be a big part of her life here in college. She especially noted that she is always looking forward to the SUNYAC Tournament––the team’s recent string of success seven years in a row surely plays into that.
In her last year at Geneseo, Max has been training vigorously to improve what has already been a successful career at the collegiate level. “We practice every day,” she said. “It’s usually twice a day, especially during this time of the year. We got a week off for winter break and then we trained in Puerto Rico.” With SUNYACs looming on the horizon, training frequently is essential to the team’s success.
Like any sport, swimming is physically demanding and it has begun to take a bit of a physical toll on Max. “I’m going to take it by year [after college],” Max noted. “My body is pretty worn down.”
Even with head coach Paul Dotterweich working the team hard, Max still has a great working relationship with him. “He’s a really great guy, he really wants to see us succeed,” she said. “He’s not one of those coaches that does it for himself.”
Max noted that she has been able to keep all components of her life balanced in a way that suits her well. “I have been able to balance it all. It’s something I’ve had to balance my whole life as a swimmer,” she said. “I have such a strict schedule with when I’m working out and when I have to get school work done that I don’t have time to procrastinate and to get behind on things.”
Not only is balance key in ensuring a student athlete’s success and happiness, but good team chemistry plays a big factor in making sure that swimmers remain enthusiastic about their sport and supportive of each other. Even though the men and women are scored and swim separately, the Blue Wave is still one team that travels and trains together. “I love them all,” Max said. “That’s why I came here.”