Pomperaug senior swim captain Timothy Regan finds success despite roadblocks
SOUTHBURY, Conn. — Standout athlete, Timothy Regan, is one of Pomperaug High School鈥檚 senior captains for the men鈥檚 swim team. The challenging year he experienced had an impact on his swim career but he persevered through it all. His commitment to the team and to his training helped him rise up and achieve numerous goals, including the number one ranking for the 2021-2022 men鈥檚 swim season at PHS.
Background
Timothy has been swimming for 12 years, specializing in backstroke, freestyle, and Individual Medley (the swimmer swims four different strokes in one race). He shared with us about how his favorite event in his sport is the first and last relay, especially at big rivalry meets.
Even though swimming requires individual training and work ethic, Timothy gives a lot of credit to his teammates and coach for always pushing him to be his best while still enjoying the sport.
鈥淭eammates are a huge part of that,鈥� Timothy offered, in reference to the balance of fun with competition. 鈥淲ithout my teammates and friends, it would be much harder to have fun during the hardest part of practice. Teammates always pick you up.鈥�
Competitive Victories
Timmy聽anchored the South-West Conference (SWC) Championship with聽a victory in his first event, the 200 Yard Freestyle, in a time of 1:42.20. PHS went on聽to win the team title with 661 points. It was Pomperaug鈥檚 ninth straight SWC team title and its 14th in the past 15 seasons. They also defended their Class M state title in overwhelming fashion, taking the team championship with 724.5 points. Their win marked Pomperaug鈥檚 ninth state title since 2010, elevating the program鈥檚 dominance even through the pandemic.
Combining Academics and Sports
Like many student-athletes, Timmy did find it challenging to balance his academic priorities with his swim practice and competition schedule. His commitment to 30+ hours of school a week paired with 16+ hours of training per week, plus a weekend job and social life, proved very challenging. However, with a lot of discipline and some trial and error, he found a rhythm that worked for him. While it still can be difficult at times, he makes sure to carve out space to relax and de-stress.
Challenges
This season鈥檚 team and personal accomplishments didn鈥檛 come easy. In October 2021, Timmy was forced to miss nearly a full month of training when he was diagnosed with Orbital Cellulitis, caused by a sinus infection that made his eye very swollen. A major setback came when surgery was required which posed a 20% chance of losing his sight in the effected eye. Following his surgery he had to adhere to a very strict recovery regimen which caused him to miss more training time. Failure to follow those orders could have resulted in another surgery and more lost time in the water. Timmy explained that the infection was a 鈥渕ajor wall鈥� that he had to work hard to overcome. The long period of not training was tough but he kept his mind focused on his team, his goals and set his sights on swimming at the highest level to achieve a champion season.
Competition at New Heights
Timothy will be attending Fairfield University in the fall of 2022 where he will be swimming on the men鈥檚 swim team in the MAAC conference.
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