Avery Martin – Contributor
Lucas Quiroga earned the NE10 Rookie of the Week award for the first week of the 2023-2024 swimming season.
Business management major Quiroga, a freshman, topped the charts in the 200 butterfly. He was also in the top five fastest swimmers in five events: 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle, 500 butterfly, 400 individual medley and 200 freestyle.
Quiroga posted a time of 2:01.47 in the 200 butterfly for the week he earned the NE10 honors.
Quiroga attributes his success to the demanding team practices. “I try to work on my underwater and my stroke tempo. I try to work on those to become better,” said Quiroga.
Quiroga’s times have also inspired other swimmers to improve their own, like his teammate, sports management major Nicholas Fournier, a sophomore.
“He is also a very fast swimmer, and he motivates us to go faster” said Fournier.
Head Coach Tim Quill was also full of praise for Quiroga’s abilities in the pool.
“He’s an incoming first year student. He’s been doing a really nice job. He’s learning an entirely different type of training format. There’s always going to be an adjustment coming into college, but his first meet of the year was an open-water swim, and he was one of the first guys out of the water,” said Quill.
Both Fournier and Quill describe Quiroga as hardworking and a team player.
“One thing he adds to the team is motivation. We all love him; he loves all of us. He cheers for everyone,” said Fournier. Fournier also noted that Quiroga is funny and fun to be around.
“He’s a very talented young man,” said Quill. “I’d say he has a very good work ethic. He’s not afraid to step outside of his comfort zone in practice. He still has a lot of things to learn that we are going to work on,”.
“I think the separating factor for a lot of athletes is that willingness to put yourself out there and not be afraid to push yourself to some pretty demanding points,” said Quill.
Quiroga is clear about his goals for the remainder of the season. Like many, he has his sights set on the NE10 championships.
“I want to win the NE10s, and I want to place really well in the 500 freestyle,” said Quiroga.
Quill also is optimistic about Quiroga’s chances in earning better results.
“I want him to keep progressing training-wise. Every athlete in here has something that they can work on. He’s got a really good stroke technique, but that can always continue to get better,” said Quill.
Until then, Quiroga will be training hard to further excel as a freshman in a demanding sport.
“He’s shown that he has a lot of promise and a lot of potential. We’re just taking it one day at a time right now and trying to get him in the best physical condition and in the best shape we can, and he will be prepared for the second half of the year,” said Quill.
