Perfect fit
ROSS TWP — There was a time when swimming was simply a way for Maggie Gruber to have fun with her friends.
“After a couple of years, I started to take it seriously,” said the 2013 Mars Area High School graduate. “When I was 10 years old, I was swimming for Pine-Richland Aquatics and qualified for the Eastern Zone meet in Buffalo in the 50-yard butterfly. I got to see the best swimmers from all over the eastern U.S. and that experience was eye-opening.”
Gruber developed into an elite swimmer, winning six WPIAL titles and six state crowns before moving on to a successful collegiate career at Virginia Tech.
Her feats earned her a spot in the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the latest class to be inducted.
By the time she reached high school, Gruber’s training schedule was a hectic one.
With no pool of their own, Mars swimmers practiced at Pine-Richland High School.
“I’d get up at 4:45 a.m. and be in the water by 5:20,” she said. “We’d practice for about an hour and a half. I’d eat breakfast in the car on the way to school. After school let out, I’d run three miles and then, unless we had a meet that night, we’d practice for two-and-a-half more hours. When I finally got home, that’s when I studied or did my homework.
“Looking back, I don’t know how I did all of it, but I had a core of friends on the team and that was our life.”
The dedication yielded a very special freshman season. In March 2010, Gruber won a state title in the 100 butterfly.
“At the time, I didn’t feel much pressure,” she said. “I started to feel more of it as my high school career went on.”
Six district titles and five more state titles followed over the next three years, all in the butterfly and backstroke, the two events that brought out the best in Gruber even though she graduated as Mars' record-holder in every individual event except for the breaststroke.
"I spent a lot of time on my underwater technique and that really helped me in those events," said Gruber. "Heidi Brandon was our head coach and she was very accommodating and cared about everyone on the team. A coach can want something only as much as the swimmer does. If she saw that a kid was really striving to do something, to reach a goal, she'd take that journey with them."
Despite her career being filled with clutch efforts in big meets, one stands out for Gruber.
"My junior year, I won a state title in the butterfly and my time (53.50) was a state record and was in the top three in the nation," she said. "It was one of the best executed swims of my career."
Predictably, a bevy of colleges showed interest in Gruber.
"It was pretty overwhelming for a high school kid," she said. "I pinpointed what I wanted from college both academically and athletically and narrowed it down to five schools — Tennessee, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and North Carolina State.
She chose to swim for the Hokies, for whom she was a three-time All-American Honorable Mention.
"College is where you grow up," she said. "I learned a lot from my coaches and was able to meet people from all over. One of my best friends, a teammate of mine, is from Scotland and now lives in Australia.
Aside from all of the medals and honors she earned, Gruber was also able to take away valuable intangibles from swimming.
"You're going to get knocked down in life and that happens in swimming, too," she said. "It taught me so much: hard work, a can-do attitude and perseverance."
Gruber is aware of the potential for an aquatic center to be built in Adams Township that would serve, among other purposes, as the home pool for Mars’ high school swimmers.
“We didn’t have a pool and it was so routine for us to practice at Pine-Richland and not have any home meets that I didn’t think twice about it,” said Gruber. “But I think it’s a great thing for the community, if it happens.”
Gruber works for U.S. Steel as a Demand Planning and Fulfillment Analyst. She and her fiance, Marshall, are planning a wedding for April 2025.
