
Jeremy Borrelli, one of two co-captains of the Men’s Swimming team, is a senior from Vestal, NY (Vestal High School). He is a 4x SUNYAC Consolation finalist in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and has been an anchor for our sprint relays this season. His improvements as an athlete have been remarkable, dropping from a 50.6 in the 100 freestyle in high school to having a team best 21.1 split in the 50 free, and 47.4 split in the 100 free, last season. His success in the pool, though, is merely complementary to his accomplishments in the classroom. In each of the past two years, Jeremy has earned the Department’s Donald Bishko Award for having the highest GPA of any male student-athlete at the college in the past academic year. He has been on the Dean’s List in every semester of his college career, is a Chi Alpha Sigma member, and also serves as President of the schools ‘Anthropology club. He carries a cumulative 3.84 GPA.
Jeremy will compete at this year’s SUNYAC championship in the sprint freestyle events and the 100 Breaststroke.
10 Questions with Jeremy Borrelli
1. In days when most colleges give lip service to the ‘ideal of the student athlete’, you really have lived that ideal. Not only are you a successful swimmer, but you also have earned the departments Donald Bishko award in each of the last 2 years for the highest GPA of any male student-athlete. How have you managed to be so successful academically?
The most likely reason for my academic success is because I was fortunate to choose a major that is fun to learn about and easy to work around. My parents always told me that it is more important to do something you enjoy even if you don’t end up making the most money with it, and archaeology is something that I enjoy to learn about and participate in, so it makes my schoolwork that much easier.
2. You also serve as the president of the Anthropology club and recently took a trip to Montreal. Discuss your experience on that trip.
My trip to Montreal was to give a poster presentation on research I did for one of my anthropology classes at the Annual American Anthropological Association’s Conference. It was cool to actually be a part of something so big. I was accompanied by two Professors and two other students from NP on the trip. When I wasn’t attending sessions at the conference I was able to explore Montreal, which is an interesting city. I don’t speak any French, so it was blatantly obvious I was a typical American tourist to all the natives of the city. It was nice to go out to dinner with some Professors, and hang out with them not in an academic setting. Also, I got to try new things that i’d never heard of before, such as “poutine” (fries, cheese curds, & gravy), which is this popular thing up there… it was actually pretty good.
3. This is your final year of your swimming career, what were your goals at the onset of the season and how are you progressing towards accomplishing them?
It’s hard to believe that this is my last year of swimming. At the onset of each year, my goals are usually to just beat my times from the previous years, but since this is my last year, I feel like my goals have changed a bit. This year, the most important goal for me personally is to try and break a school record, most likely as a part of a relay team. Particularly, I’d like to try for the 400 free relay, which is the oldest record on the board. In high school, my relay team was 1 second off that relay record, and it is my favorite relay to swim in so if we can pull that off, I’d be very happy. As a team, however, I feel that with this group of guys, we have a legitimate shot at second place in the conference so that would also be great.
4. What would you say has been your best swimming memory so far as a New Paltz Hawk?
It’s honestly hard to point out one specific memory from my time here at NP as my favorite. Anytime you get a group of guys together like we’ve had the past four years you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a good time. If I had to choose, I would have to say my favorite memory with the team is during our Florida training trip my sophomore year. Despite training outside in the 30 degree weather, swimming the 3-Kings set during a thunderstorm and all the locals in parkas while we played pro-kadima with our shirts off, it was a great time!
5. You’ve clearly made significant improvement since high school. What has helped motivate you to be so successful?
I began swimming my freshman year of high school. I took two weeks of classes and pretty much taught myself how to swim before trying out for the team. I didn’t even know how to dive. So to have the possibility of placing well at SUNYACs is really exciting for me. Knowing that I’ve come so far really helps me to stay motivated to keep going, but also keeping in mind that I can still improve a lot keeps me in check. But what really helps to motivate me the most is the other guys on the team. They are constantly pushing me and helping to get me fired up for each meet, as well as train hard during the season and in the offseason.
6. What is your favorite event and why?
My favorite event would have to be the 100 Free. It is such a different race than the 50; I love trying to hold that sprint speed for an extra 50 yards. Also, unlike the 50 where if you mess one thing up you can drop a lot of time the 100 gives you some room to catch up if you need to, which sometimes comes in handy. It’s just a fun race to swim.
7. When not swimming and studying, what do you like to do in your spare time?
When I’m not swimming or studying I am usually watching movies. Bad or good, it doesn’t matter when it comes to movies, I love watching them. Also, this past summer I got Advanced Open Water SCUBA certified. Diving is such a thrill for me, I love floating underwater and exploring coral reefs and seeing different types of marine life. I’ve dove in the Gulf of Mexico and in St. Thomas so far and would like to check out more spots in the Caribbean if I get the chance. I’d especially like to go cage diving or diving with sharks because I think they are such a cool animal. The only downside to SCUBA is that it’s an expensive hobby, so it may be a while before I can visit all the places I would like to.
8. You’re a team captain. What are some things that you do as a captain to help motivate your teammates?
As a captain I feel the best thing to do is to lead by example. If you stay motivated, keep a positive attitude and show up to practices/meets and give it your all, others will see that and replicate it. Mainly I try to keep a positive attitude and make sure everyone else stays positive regardless if they are not doing well or having a good time. Attitude is everything.
9. You recently set a lifetime best of 1:02 in the 100 Breast. To what do you attribute your success in this event?
I’m not sure how I did that time in the breast. It most likely has to do with the fact that during most kick sets I rely on breaststroke kick to get through them when my legs get tired from flutter kick. As a result, my breast kick has gotten fairly powerful, so that is most likely the reason why I was able to muscle out a 1:02. With some more technical practice with the breaststroke I think it’d be within reason to try and break 1:00, which would be pretty cool!
10. What are your plans for after graduation?
After graduation I plan on attending grad school somewhere for Underwater Archaeology. I figure that since I enjoy archaeology and I love to dive, why not combine them for a career? Since there are only a few schools that offer a degree program in that, if I’m unable to get in I have a back-up plan of becoming a shovel-bum. Basically if I don’t get into grad school I will sign up to freelance at different archaeological excavations around the country and pretty much live out of my car. A few of my professors recommend doing this as it would provide me with valuable field experiences and give me a good chance to travel all over the US, which would be a lot of fun.
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Jeremy and the New Paltz swimming teams will be traveling to Bradenton Beach, Florida for our annual winter trip December 28-Jan 7.