Butler Y swimmer Lavorini wins breaststroke title at Long Course Nationals
JEFFERSON TWP — The water simply agreed with Giona Lavorini — before she was even a year old.
“My parents put me in a water safety program at six months, just to get me used to the water,” Giona, now 15, said. “I started taking swimming lessons at a young age and just fell in love with the sport.”
By age 9, she was swimming for SEBCO in the AK Valley summer league. Giona joined the Butler YMCA swim team the next year and has been flourishing ever since.
“Giona went to age group Zones in Webster, New York, last season and that’s where she qualified for nationals,” Butler Y swim coach Corrie Jones said. “She’s made a total commitment to swimming since then. She’s not just a participant in the sport. She’s committed to the sport.
“No doubt, doing all of that hard work — our dry land program and attending practices regularly — has made a difference in her performance.”
A freshman at Knoch last season, Giona placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in the WPIAL meet. She wound up placing sixth at the PIAA meet, medaling in the 100 breast.
She qualified for the YMCA short-course nationals in the spring, finishing 21st in the 200 breast and 26th in the 100 breast. Competing at the recent YMCA Long Course Swimming Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., Giona broke through.
She placed sixth in the 50 breast, fourth in the 100 breast and won the 200 breast. Her winning time was 12 minutes, 40.31 seconds, edging Grace Hunt of the Greater Spartanburg YMCA by 0.21 seconds.
“It was close,” Giona said. “I could see her right next to me.”
The long-course pool is 50 meters long, as opposed to the 25-yard short-course pool.
“That makes a big difference for me,” Giona said of the longer pool. “I’m not very good on my turns and push-offs and that’s where you gain speed. The longer the pool, the fewer turns you have to make. That played in my favor.”
Giona was the lone Butler Y swimmer competing at Long Course Nationals. Three other Butler Y swimmers — Grace Olshanski, Katie Reott and Ann-Katherine Burns — joined her at Short Course Nationals.
“Giona’s reaction time is slow and we need to work on turns,” Jones said. “She definitely has room to improve. There were 700 to 800 swimmers at Long Course Nationals, so it’s quite an achievement to win there. Our goal next year is to get her to place in the top 16 in the 200 breast at Short Course Nationals.”
Jones added that Giona will be competing at the upcoming Futures meet at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, where 800 to 1,000 swimmers will be in action, calling the meet “the first step toward Junior Nationals.”
Giona is not the only standout swimmer in her family. Younger brother Adrian, 14, owns the state YMCA record in the 1,650-meter freestyle in his age group. He owns Butler YMCA team records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyle.
“He joined the (Butler Y) team a year after me,” Giona said of her brother. “It works out that we’re involved in the same sport on the same team. We go to practices together and learn together.”
Adrian will be a freshman at Knoch this year and plans to join the Knights’ boys swim team.
“We have a number of kids in the Y program with the common interest of commitment, working hard and excelling in swimming,” Jones said. “Having kids like that helps us all the way around.
“Some aspire to get to Giona’s level. They also push swimmers like Giona to work harder.”
In terms of placing at meets, Giona has no specific goals in mind. She’d rather swim against herself.
“All I want to do is drop times,” she said. “I don’t care about where I place in meets. I’d rather finish third and drop my time by six seconds than finish first and drop my time by one second.
“It’s all about getting better.”
