Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Katie Gresik, Oswego Co-op, swimming, junior

Name: Katie Gresik

School: Oswego Co-op, junior

Sport: Swimming

Why she was selected: Gresik was second in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:57.64 and fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:05.28 at the state swimming meet, helping lead Oswego Co-op to eighth place as a team.

Gresik was voted by readers as the Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is her interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Welge: Second place in the 500 free, how did you feel about the race?

Gresik: I wasn’t expecting second, especially after prelims on Friday when I got fourth. I was going into it hoping for the best. I’ve been dropping time all season. I dropped in prelims but I didn’t know if I’d be able to drop in finals, too. The last 100, the last 50, I was in fourth place, and then, I don’t know, I left everything I had out there. I’m super happy. This is the first time I focused on the 500, the first time I swam it at a big meet. It was a new experience.

Welge: How do you approach having so much on your plate at a big meet like this, especially with one of your races being such a long distance?

Gresik: With club season and everything, it’s normal to do four or five races sometimes over the span of a three-day meet. I’ve been to meets where I had to do that. I’d never done the 500 and the 200 freestyle relay right after that, that was kind of rough.

Welge: What made you decide to try the 500?

Gresik: It was at one random meet. Me and one of my friend Chloe Diner, we go back and forth on events like that. We ended up racing that, got really good times together. I guess I thought I could try it and I went from there.

Welge: How did you get started swimming?

Gresik: I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 9 years old, and swim lessons before that. It was more like from my grandpa, something different. He had me do swimming just to try it. It went from there and I ended up loving it and stuck with it.