CAROLYN MULLARKEY
Staff Writer
It was a cold and early morning in the Steele Natatorium the Friday before Thanksgiving Break, and there was definitely no one more excited to be at their job more than Coach Astrid Escobar.
This is Escobar’s first year coaching at Fredonia for both the men’s and women’s swim teams.
Sitting down in an interview with her, the energy was nothing short of engaging, positive and with a tangible passion for what she does, coaching for sure, but swimming especially.
“If the NCAA just said today you could have four more years of extended eligibility, I would just quit and do that again. I just love swimming so much and I want kids to have a passion and love for it. Sometimes it’s hard because I miss it so much,” Escobar said when first asked about the drastic transition from being a swimmer to becoming a coach.
Something about Escobar that stood out is her love for NCAA Division III athletics.
She is extremely qualified with experiences all surrounding DIII schools.
How exactly did Fredonia get so lucky to have someone of her passion and caliber to be head coach this season?
Having gone to college to study biochemistry and not really initially intending to go into coaching, it was an interesting story of events of how she ended up where she is.
She’s been coaching for five years now and describes how she started as “serendipitous” and refers to herself as a “beneficiary of good timing.”
From being a star swimmer at her own Division III school in Tennessee, after graduation, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the competitive world of swimming and NCAA athletics.
She went on to be an assistant coach at Hamilton College for two seasons, then to interim assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse for one season.
Both of those schools are in Division III for NCAA.
After that, she was ready to head her own swim team and department, and that is what led her to Fredonia.
“I really believe in Division III. They are full of solid groups of athletes that buy into the program.”
Getting to know the athletes has been a pleasure for Escobar so far with adjusting to the culture of Fredonia and the Athletics Department.
Escobar said, “If you asked any of my swimmers they would say what Astrid cares about most? Culture.”
It is her top priority with team building, and that is the key to success and drive among her swimmers to keep them for four years.
When asked about something to look forward to this season, Escobar did not hesitate to say Feb. 8 is Fredonia’s home meet.
This will be the time of honoring seniors graduating come May 2020.
The meet is additionally special to Escobar because Fredonia will be hosting Cortland, and they are some of her former swimmers/colleagues in past years.
It will be the only home meet, so Escobar hopes Fredonia will fill up the stands and give the swim team the recognition they deserve for all of the hard work they’ve been putting in this year.
Although this season is halfway over, SUNYACs aren’t completely off the table.
Their next meet is this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6-7 at SUNY Cortland.
For all updated stats and scores, check out https://fredoniabluedevils.com/index.aspx.
Coaches Corner: Astrid Escobar