It may not be noticeable to the casual swim fan, but when Robbinsville High sophomore Maria Nitti prepares for her next race, she fights with some internal conflict going on within her seemingly calm demeanor.
“Sometimes I’m just really nervous and I’m thinking ‘I don’t want to swim anymore,’ when I’m behind the blocks.” Nitti said. “And other times it’s just like ‘I can do this.’ I just get really nervous before races.”
Once she talks herself into racing—and she always does—Nitti gets down to business.
“I’m thinking a couple different things,” she said. “I have to focus and focus. All my technique is going through my head. Once I’m in the water, it’s just like ‘go faster, go faster.’ Especially during the 50. You don’t have any time to think, you just need to swim and that’s it.”
Her system has worked so far, as Nitti is one of the Ravens top returning swimmers this season. As a freshman, she finished third in the 50 meters and sixth in the 100 at the Mercer County Championships, which is a heck of a way to break into high school swimming.
And she’s only just beginning.
“This year I want to break the school’s 500 record (of 5:15),” she said. “I’m pretty close to it, but I don’t really know if I’ll get to swim it in a meet. It’s something I just want to do at some point. And I want to improve on my 50 and do well at counties.”
Nitti was a relative latecomer to competitive swimming, joining the Hamilton Aquatics Club in sixth grade.
“I’ve always liked swimming, but that’s pretty late in swimming terms,” she said. “I think at the end of eighth grade I moved up to the level I’m at now. It’s always been really enjoyable for me. Once I started club I really liked the sport and thought it was really cool.
“I just love the whole atmosphere. It’s such a family atmosphere even though it’s more of an individual sport.”
Unbeknownst to Nitti, her future high school coach mentored her while swimming at HAC. Former Ewing High standout Erin Devlin, a HAC coach at the time, is now in her first season of running the Ravens teams. Devlin coached her for a couple of seasons before Nitti moved up to a more advanced group.
“She definitely jumped out right away as a good swimmer,” Devlin said. “She’s very strong in the water. She has that swimmer build, and her strokes are very smooth and her technique is great. She’s a hard worker as well.”
Nitti may have jumped out to the coaches on that lower level, but she feels she did not hit her stride until eighth grade.
“I was really into it—I just wasn’t that good when I started,” she said. “I just progressively got better and better and in eighth grade I joined the level that I’m at now. Getting at that higher level really helped me improve a lot.”
Devlin expects Nitti to be a dominant sprinter (and one of the Ravens’ top scorers), but the coach has the luxury of being able to put her at different spots in the lineup, from freestyle to butterfly.
“She’s definitely versatile,” she said. “In one meet, I had her in the freestyle sprints and in the next one I had her in the fly and 200 free and she’s still able to conform and she did very well in those swims. Throughout the season we’ll be able to see her do different swims when I need them. She can step up in that regard.”
One thing that is important to Nitti is spending time with the high school team. Due to her commitment with Hamilton Aquatics, she is forced to miss some practices. But she feels the atmosphere created by Devlin this year has made it a much better situation.
“I think we’re getting to know each other a lot better than last year,” Nitti said. “Last year, I felt kind of alienated because I had to train with my club team, but this year I’m getting to know everyone and we’re all cheering each other on.”
It’s an overall happier atmosphere, she added.
“Last year, it was a little stressful,” she said. “I’m really trying to get to know the team better, and everyone is really nice. I’m not supposed to miss a lot of club practices, but I just want to be able to be part of the team. I don’t want to show up for the meets and swim and go home. I want to be able to hang out with the girls. “
Devlin feels that Nitti is one of those girls that the team enjoys hanging out with.
“She’s just a great kid,” the coach said. “She’s a lot of fun, she gets along very well with her teammates and she’s willing to do anything for the team.”
And once she convinces herself to get into the water, she usually does something pretty good.
,
