On Saturday, November 12th, the State championships for girls swimming were held at FMC Natatorium in DuPage County. Vera Conic, a Rolling Meadows High School freshman, became the youngest and only female Mustang to bring home first place at State for the swim team in 100 yard backstroke. The RMHS coaches and her teammates have high hopes for the future of the team.

RMHS’s Head Girls (and Boys) Swimming coach, Monika Chiappetta, is tremendously proud of Conic. She describes Conic as, “an incredible student of the sport of swimming.”

Additionally, Conic is well-known as one of the hardest workers on the team. 

“There was not a workout I gave her that she didn’t give 100%, even when I knew it was super hard for her to accomplish. She had the same mindset in everything she did, whether a race or a set… ATTACK! She came to Rolling Meadows very accomplished in club swimming, but IHSA swimming is a different beast,” Chiappetta added. 

Chiappetta and Conic formed goals together that worked in the direction of unparalleled success. “My goal was for her to end this season faster than she ever was. In order to do that, we needed to work together and trust. She fixed the details that needed to be fixed…..and the rest, as they say, is history!”Chiappetta said. 

Conic, taught by her parents, started swimming when she was around 2 years old. 

“My team and coach both inspire me to keep trying in practice, even when it gets difficult. The team is so positive and I loved swimming with them everyday,” Conic said. 

Despite finding great success at a young age, Conic encourages beginner swimmers to be consistent in training in order to improve their lifestyles and their strokes. Without fail, Conic practices for 2 hours every day, and when she isn’t in the pool, she is in the gym.

Dedicated to her craft and consistently showing mastery over it, one might assume that Conic doesn’t get performance jitters like other student-athletes. 

 “I do get nervous before every race, but I remind myself of all of the training I have done to prepare myself for this,” Conic said.  

The season was very successful overall and it came to a perfect ending. After Conic won, her favorite part was really seeing how much everyone around here celebrated her successes with her.

 “It was even more fun because my teammates and friends came to cheer for me.”