Commitment, perseverance, courage, accountability, and integrity.
These are all qualities Ethan Domanico has learned throughout his journey of being a competitive swimmer. Domanico is currently a sophomore at SUNY Cortland and is a member of the men’s swimming and diving team, but his swimming career began way back in elementary school.
“I’ve been swimming since as long as I can remember, my parents put me into swimming lessons as a young child and in the third grade they put me on a club swim team, but I actually wanted to play soccer,” said Domanico.
The Domanico family is without a doubt a swim family with all 3 Domanico boys being competitive swimmers. Ethan’s older brother is currently a senior at the of the University of Rochester and is a member of the men’s swimming and diving team.
“The fact that my brother also swam and stuck with it was really the reason why I never stopped,” said Domanico. “If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have fallen in love with the sport and I wouldn’t have all what competitive swimming has brought to my life today.”
Domanico expressed being a competitive swimmer can be extremely draining both mentally and physically but despite certain struggles it has taught him many important lessons which he now applies in his day-to-day life.
“Swim has taught me to be comfortable while being in an uncomfortable situation,” said Domanico. “It has taught me the importance of being able to balance all the things I have going on in my life both on and off the pool deck like learning how to cope with failures and setbacks.
“Since starting swimming in college, it has brought many positives into my life,” said Domanico. “Swimming has taught me a lot of important lessons and has opened many doors up for me. I’ve made lifelong friends not just from the Cortland swim team but also from the club teams I was a part of before joining varsity swimming in high school. My teammates and I are all so close, it feels like one giant family.”
The swimming and diving team here at SUNY Cortland is a larger team compared to other athletic teams at the school. Coming onto a team alone can be a little intimidating at times and especially being a newbie on a large team, it could be nerve wracking. Not for Domanico, thanks to the confidence boost competitive swimming has given him.
“I thought I would be nervous coming into the men’s swimming and diving team my freshman year,” said Domanico. “It was unknown to me coming into the collegiate level because I had no idea what to expect. But I was confident and did not let myself be intimidated.”
The wet dragons season began in late September and just this past week Domanico mentioned his season has finally come to an end. As passionate as he is for the sport, Domanico expressed that the biggest difference from swimming on a varsity team in high school to now swimming at the college level is the much longer season.
“As draining as the sport can be it really helps me to stay on track of everything I have going on in my life.” said Domanico. “During the season I find it easy to balance swimming and academics because it keeps me on a tight schedule. Swimming laps in the pool allows me to release my stress from classes and other stressors that I might have that week.”
Domanico feels that this season was much different from last year mainly because of how close he has gotten with the other members, and he gained comfortability on the team.
“At this year’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) invitational held in January, I did well in my events,” said Domanico. “I was happy with my performance in the 400-medley relay and my split time at this invitational ended up being a season best at the time.”
As his sophomore season has come to an end, Domanico reminisces on his competitive swimming career and how much he has improved in this sport since starting at a young age.
“After all the time I’ve spent training in the sport I love, I’m sad to think about the fact that I only have two years left at the competitive level.”