Ava Petillo ’21:
The Girls’ Athlete of the Month for February is swimmer Chelsey Liu ‘20. Liu has been competitively swimming since she was eight years old, first on a summer swim team, and later on a club team. Liu, a new student at Episcopal, is thrilled to be a part of the swim team for the 2017-2018 season.
Alex Sumner ‘18 and Lauren Rodio ‘18, two of the three Co-Captains of the Girls Varsity Swim Team, characterize Liu by commenting on her lively personality. Sumner explains, “Chelsey makes practice so fun by always making us laugh and encouraging us while we swim. She makes the swim team better as a whole.” Rodio also shares, “Chelsey is such a consistent swimmer and great teammate. She puts up impressive races at every meet, which is a testimony of her hard work.”
Even though this is Liu’s first year swimming at EA, Brian Kline, Physical Education Teacher and Director of Aquatics, comments, “Chelsey has done a great job this year, she always thinks about not only her short-term goals, but her long term goals. She has a good head on her shoulders and she knows what she wants in regards to her goals as a swimmer.” Kline also adds that Chelsey is a “very versatile swimmer who can swim multiple events. She can help you in any stroke, which makes her a very valuable player.”
Liu is most proud of her achievements in the Interac competition. She swam very well in all of her events, and broke her personal record for the 100 free, bringing her time down to 52.96 seconds. Liu says her role on the team “is to always bring 100% to every swim meet, and to cheer for my teammates.” She enjoys “being at the meets and cheering for my friends. The atmosphere is so positive here at EA and it’s great to be able to be a part of that.”
At the 2018 Eastern Interscholastic Swimming & Diving Championships, Liu performed exceptionally, coming in 3rd for the 400 relay, 3rd in the 50 free, and 3rd in the 200 medley. She also placed 5th in the 100 free, with a personal best time of 52.09 seconds.
Liu is very proud of the team’s accomplishments this past season and hopes to continue to be an important contributor on the team in the future.
Sumner states, “we would not be as strong if Chelsey hadn’t come to EA. She can contribute a lot of points by swimming both relays and individual races has helped our team, and we are so grateful that she joined our team.”