DLN ALL-AREA: Avon Grove’s Paoletti caps career that included pile of medals and a state championship
Avon Grove senior Isabella Paoletti, the Daily Local News 2020 Girls Swimmer of the Year, has always come through when needed during her eventful four-year swimming career with the Red Devils.
As a freshman, Paoletti helped the Red Devils (a team of only eight swimmers and no divers) capture the PIAA 3A state championship. The following year, Paoletti played a key role in Avon Grove’s runner-up finish at States.
“Iz always swims with determination and grit, and over the last four years, she always has given 110 percent in both individual and relay races,” said Avon Grove swimming coach Kelly Burk. “We all knew if the race was close, she would make sure she touched first. I always had her go last in a relay for this reason. At Districts and States her freshman and sophomore years, she sacrificed swimming races and swam what we needed her to swim for the team.”
As a senior, Paoletti finished first in both the 200IM and 500 free at Districts and received the B.J. Howat Outstanding Swimmer Award. At States, she placed third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 500 free.
Paoletti’s favorite memory of her Avon Grove swimming career was the 2017 PIAA 3A state championship.
“This was really exciting, the energy at the meet and in our community was amazing,” said Paoletti. “ I am so proud of that team and our accomplishments! Winning States was a surprise to everyone because our team was composed of only eight swimmers and no divers. Following the meet, Avon Grove School District honored our team with a parade and pep rally.”
One of her teammates on that 2017 squad was her older sister Olivia, who received the second of three consecutive Daily Local News Girls Swimmer of the Year awards that season.
“Olivia has pushed me to train harder and perform stronger,” said Isabella. “The most important thing I have learned from Olivia is that every practice is a chance to get better. Her strong work ethic, determination, and focus has showed me that training hard pays off.”
As a sophomore, Isabella experienced her favorite memory at States, finishing second in the 500 free with a time of 4:51.76.
“Right after my swim, I ran to Olivia and gave her a big hug,” said Isabella. “I was so happy and she was crying tears of joy.”
This winter, Izzy’s hard work paid off at Districts with a couple of first-place finishes. In the 200 IM, she posted a personal best time of 2:02.31 in the finals, and in the 500 free, she swam a winning time of 4:53.42.
“I was very happy with both of my races at Districts, but I was more pleased with my 500 freestyle,” said Paoletti. “I was not rested or tapered for the District meet, and I was very pleased with how strong I felt in the water. I had been focusing on longer distances in practice and really trying to perform well to advance to the PIAA meet seeded well. I was happy with my time and very excited with the end results of the meet.”
Her favorite memory of Districts was seeing her winning time in the 200IM.
“Seeing my time after the race was over, I was so happy that I had just gone a personal best time not rested or tapered,” said Paoletti. “I was excited to see what I could do at States.”
At States, Paoletti had two top-four finishes in the individual events, placing third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.13.
“My best race at states was definitely my 200 IM,” said Paoletti. “My extreme focus and hard work in training for the IM races were huge factors in my performance. “
Paoletti also finished fourth in the 500 free prelims with a clocking of 4:57.68. These became the final results when the meet was ended prematurely due to precautions relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Iz held back in prelims for the 500 free, because she was pacing – conserving energy – to make the final,” said Burk. “Had she known before she swam prelims that it would be timed finals she would have swam that race completely differently. We did not find out that it was timed finals until an hour later when we were at lunch. It still breaks my heart that they were not aware during prelims.”
Thus ended the high school career of Paoletti, who along with senior teammate Sydney Paglia has left some big shoes to fill next winter for Avon Grove. Paoletti and Paglia took the top two spots for Ches-Mont Girls Swimmer of the Year, only three points apart.
“Izzy and Sydney Paglia have stepped up to be leaders of the team these past two years,” said Burk. “Words cannot express how much she and Sydney will be missed next season. The underclassmen have huge shoes to fill next season.”
Since the end of the PIAA swimming season, Paoletti, who under normal conditions swims nine practices and approximately 21 hours per week, has had to alter her training program, as USA Swimming has suspended all training practices because of the current situation with COVID-19.
“This makes it difficult to train, but I have been working on maintaining my strength, staying fit, and building my endurance at home,” said Paoletti.
On a happier note, Paoletti will be joining her sister Olivia on the Yale University swimming team next fall. Izzy, whose favorite course at Avon Grove is biology, is considered a pre-med track at Yale.
“I am so excited to join my sister and future teammates at Yale University,” said Paoletti. “I cannot be happier with my decision.”
