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Persistence Pays off for Greenwich YWCA’s Dillinger

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Greenwich resident and yWCA Dolphin swimmer Thomas Dillinger poses for a photo with Dolphins head coach Nick Cavataro after qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
Greenwich resident and yWCA Dolphin swimmer Thomas Dillinger poses for a photo with Dolphins head coach Nick Cavataro after qualifying for the Olympic Trials.

Thomas Dillinger’s persistence, both in and out of the pool, has paid off in a big way.

The Greenwich High School alum and University of Pennsylvania freshman has been determined for years to crack that Olympic Trials qualifying mark with the YWCA Dolphins.

It took until the fifth day at the Speedo Junior Nationals Championships, but all his hard work and dedication to improving his strength and speed in the pool has paid off. The YWCA Dolphin scored a lifetime goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials.

“When you go to a bigger meet with some bigger competition, it’s something you strive for,” Dillinger said. “You always want to be the fastest, and there are people that push you to new levels. Sometimes the competition at the local area isn’t quite there, but when you go to these meets you get to see how hard everybody else trains. It keeps you on track and motivated. Accomplishing this next step is great, because it shows all the hard work is starting to pay off.”

During Junior Nationals, at San Antonio’s Northside Aquatics Center from July 30 to Aug. 3, Dillinger, who worked tirelessly throughout the last year to better his times, competed in numerous events.

“It was always an All-State level kid and in the past couple of years he’s refocused his efforts, both in the water and in the gym,” YWCA Dolphins head coach Nick Cavataro said. “All the components that you need to succeed, he’s increased to a higher level. His strength and conditioning, his increased water work, his dedication to training and his diet and rest all have paid off exponentially in time drops and improvement.”

The Dolphin swimmer battled through several events earlier in Junior Nationals, missing the Olympic Trial cut time by mere inches on a few occasions.

In the 400-meter individual medley, Dillinger touched the wall with a tine of 4:28.37. The Olympic Trial cut time was 4:27.49. In the 100-meter freestyle, Dillinger was close to the Olympic Trial time of 50.69 seconds, finishing with a time of 51.39.

The margin was painfully narrow in the 50-meter freestyle. Dillinger’s time of 23.49 was good enough for 13th place overall in the 24-man finals. However it just missed the Olympic Trial qualifying time of 23.29.

However, day five of the Junior National Championships meant Dillinger would swim in the 200-meter individual medley, his strongest event.

Coming into the event, Dillinger was seeded with a time of 2:06.56. During his preliminary heat, he was more focused and determined than ever to touch the wall faster than he’d ever done before.

And so he did. His time of 2:03.03 not only gave him the second fasted preliminary time, but it was well under the Olympic Trial cut time of 2:05.09.

“This was race that I felt the most comfortable making,” Dillinger said. “I came close in the other events, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. It was a waiting game to get there and knew that all the training I did, both in the pool and in the weight room, and the mentality that I had, I felt comfortable I could get it. I didn’t think I was going to drop three-and-a-half seconds. I looked up to see my time and I was in disbelief. But I was so happy when I saw that and I’m so happy I made the cut.”

“When you go to a meet of this magnitude, tenths and hundreths of a second drop improvements are often not even the norm,” Cavataro said. “He dropped in every swim that weekend, but to have a three second drop in the 200-IM is amazing. To see him qualify for Olympic Trials and catapult to the No. 2 qualifying spot, it was like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulder and my shoulders. There was a lot effort to get to that high level. Every swim he had was faster than his lifetime best.”

While over the moon about finally realizing his dream of the Olympic Trials, his day wasn’t over. He still had to swim the finals of the 200-meter individual medley.

Of 82 swimmers who competed in the event and 24 who made it to the finals of the 200-meter IM, Dillinger finished fourth overall, ending the day with a time of 2:03.19.

“He qualified for Olympic Trials in the 200-IM, which is all four strokes,” Cavataro said. “He just missed qualifying in the 400-IM, in the 100-free and 50-free. His range of events is extraordinary. He’s going to be an impact swimmer at Penn and I think he’ll be an impact swimmer at the national level for many seasons to come.”

When it comes to the coaches in his life, it’s really easy to see why Dillinger is successful. For the past 15 years, Greenwich YWCA Dolphins head coach Nick Cavataro has instructed Dillinger. Although myriad swimmers came and went through the Dolphins’ program during Dillinger’s time with the team, he stuck it out and is eternally grateful he did.

“I have a lot of faith in Nick and we have a special bond,” Dillinger said. “I wanted to be with him and he knew how to push me in practice every day. He worked around my schedule, was very flexible and was always there for me. He’s such a good coach and knew what it took to get you to swim your best.”

At Greenwich High School, Dillinger had the pleasure of swimming under Terry Lowe, legendary head coach for the boys swimming and diving team and boys water polo team. During his tenure as a Cardinal, Greenwich won the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship every year, and every year Dillinger was named to the FCIAC All-County Team.

In three of his four years on the swim team, Big Red captured the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference class LL and State Open championships.

“Terry was a great coach for the four years that I was at Greenwich High,” Dillinger said. “He knew my older brother and we also had a special bond. He’s definitely the best high school coach I could ask for and I am very thankful for him.”

Lowe said that coming into his high school career, everybody was eyeing the 200- and 500-meter freestyle events for Dillinger to compete at a high level.

“He swam those for his first two years and it actually took a lot of arm twisting to convince him that maybe the IM is the event that should concentrate on and make that one of his primary focuses,” Lowe said. “To say the least, that has paid off. I’m sure he’s happy the decision was made two years ago.”

During his senior year, Dillinger was the state champion in the 200-yard individual medley, posting a state-record time of 1:47.22. He also won the 100-yard freestyle event at the State Open, posting a time of 45.17 seconds. In addition, Dillinger was also a member of the fastest 400- and 200-yard freestyle relay teams in Connecticut.

“It’s always great when you have someone that you coached make it to the Olympic Trials and succeed at that level,” Lowe said. “It’s a rare feat, because swimming is such a competitive sport. Kids are going faster and faster, and to make the Olympic Trials is harder and harder. To have a guy like Thomas, who is always super competitive, very determined to succeed, very determined to lead his team in performance and see him make Olympic Trials, is so special.”

And Dillinger will be keeping the hard work going strong while at the University of Pennsylvania.

He has two hours of practices about six times a week, and then he works with weights two three times a week with his personal trainer. While the exercise, both in the pool and at the gym, are keys to Dillinger’s success, it’s the extra effort that he hopes will get him to the next level.

“A lot of this is nutrition,” Dillinger said. “No sugar and eating properly. I have to eat five or six meals a day and have a lot of protein and carbs. Also, a lot of it is mental. You can’t let any bad races or superstitions get in the way. You have to be totally focused and have to believe that the training that you’ve done and how hard you’ve pushed yourself will pay off. I pushed myself really hard this year and I felt really comfortable in that race. I didn’t hold back at all.”

While the Olympic Trials are still in the distant future, from June 26 to July 3 at the CenturyLink Arena in Omaha, Neb., that doesn’t mean that Dillinger isn’t hard at work prepping for his moment in the sun.

“We’re going to keep the training plan the same,” said Dillinger. “We are going to be doing the practices here at Penn and maybe I’ll pick up a little more distance and more time in the pool. I’m with the older guys now, so they are pushing me a lot more than I could push myself alone in practice. I’m more than confident that I will get to that next stage because, even with the older guys that have been here a while and have experienced it all, we have a great team. Our coach is really good and he will get us to where we need to be.”

As for goals at the Olympic Trials, Dillinger, just like he’s done during his time with the Dolphins and at GHS, will be relying on his hard work, dedication and determination to place strong.

“I am going to just see how I place,” Dillinger said. “The top two in each race go to Olympics. I am a younger swimmer that is going. I’m going to just try and beat my time and maybe drop another one or two seconds. As of right now it’s a new learning experience, but as long as I keep my time and I feel like I put in enough work, I’ll be fine.”

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