Philip Zoppi – Special to the Southern News
NEW HAVEN — Freshmen, Aubrey Bailey, of the Southern Connecticut State women’s swimming team, is the first member of the team to be honored by the ECAC this season.
Winning the Corvias ECAC Women’s Swimmer Rookie of the Week highlighted Bailey’s memorable week.
Bailey’s production certainly warranted her winning the award. Against Le Moyne, she had two victories including the 100-yard butterfly , and as part of the 200-yard medley relay team.
Then at Saint Rose, she won the 200-yard individual medley, finished second in the 200-yard butterfly, and finished third in the 100-yard backstroke. Bailey said that looking back at her strong performance and was more than happy.
“I thought it was awesome that I won rookie of the week,” said Bailey. “I’m from California so my parents don’t get to see me swim all the time, so them being able to read about me online was cool.”
A native of El Cajon, Calif., Bailey has to travel over 2,800 miles to come swim for Southern. Bailey rarely gets to go home to see her family. It’s not a short drive away like it is for most of the students at Southern. Neither the travel, nor being away from her family has slowed Bailey down. Bailey reflected on that travel she has to make every year.
“It’s really hard not being able to see my parents or sister,” she said. “It’s hard and frustrating but they try to come out and see my meets.”
Bailey travels further than almost all of the student population at Southern. Just this past week was the first time she’s even seen a big snow storm.
“It’s really exciting being over here. I got to see my first big snowstorm this winter,” said Bailey.
Bailey’s coach, Tim Quill, said that he thinks very highly of his freshman swimmer and all that she has accomplished.
“She’s come in and done a very nice job. She’s got a lot of talent and we’re just trying to expose her strengths and weaknesses. I think we’ve been able to do that and it’s paying off in competition.”
Right from the start Bailey and the team knew she could swim at the college level. In the team’s first meet vs. The College of New Jersey, Bailey won the 200-yard butterfly.
Most freshmen swimmers don’t make the impact quite like Bailey has done. With her being one of the many underclassmen on the team she’s looking to make an even bigger impact next year.
Bailey’s senior teammate and one of the leaders of the team, Courtney Silva, said that she had a glowing review of Bailey’s season up to this point.
“She was a very good swimmer before she came in,” Silva said. “We knew coming from California she was going to be a huge asset for the team. She has done very well this year, it shows on paper.”
Silva is one of the two seniors left on the team. With them graduating this year and there being only one junior on the team, Bailey and other underclassmen will be looked at to take stronger leadership roles next year.
Silva thinks Bailey can take that next step. “The dynamic of the swim team over my four years has changed a lot. I’ve tried to instill a lot of my knowledge into not only Aubrey but also the underclassmen class. It’s up to them to help live on the legacy of what Southern swimming and diving is all about.”
