Fredonia diver Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer, left, swimmer Tori Spacciapolli, center, and head coach Joanne Lotter left for the NYSPHSAA swimming & diving championships Thursday. Submitted photo

Excited to be back.

After missing out on the New York State Public High School Athletic Association swimming & diving championships last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fredonia senior swimmer Tori Spacciapolli and freshman diver Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer are excited for this year’s meet at Ithaca College this weekend.

“I’m excited that we’ve made it,” said Fredonia head coach Joanne Lotter. “It’s a piece of normalcy everyone was wanting back and it’s exciting that it’s back.”

Spacciapolli and Pucci-Schaefer are no strangers to the state meet. For Spacciapolli it will be her fourth trip and Pucci-Schaefer will be making her second.

What makes this meet special for Spacciapolli is that it is her last trip to the event. Spacciapolli will be swimming in her favorite event, the 100-yard breaststroke.

“Tori is a senior, so this is her final state meet,” said Lotter. “She’s excited to swim her favorite event and go out with a strong finish.”

Spacciapolli is the current record holder at Fredonia in the 100-yard breaststroke and her goal for this weekend is to improve that time. In 2019, she finished 23rd and this year she hopes all of the training gets her to Saturday to improve on that position.

“We started in August,” Lotter said about the team’s training. “They have been working hard every day in training, her goal is to make it back for Saturday.”

While it is the last state meet for Spacciapolli, Pucci-Schaefer is just getting started. With an appearance in the state meet as a seventh-grader, Pucci-Schaefer will now compete at states for the first time as a high-schooler.

“I don’t see the nervousness this year with Elizabeth,” saidLotter. “Having one trip under her belt will be the difference she needed. She is more confident this year. We’re ready to see what she does tomorrow.”

In her seventh-grade trip to states, Pucci-Schaefer finished 19th out of 43 competitors. This year, Pucci-Schaefer will go against 44 other divers and she hopes to make it to the end of the competition. Pucci-Schaefer has been working hard all season with diving coach John Crawford and it’s clearly working as she obliterated Fredonia’s old diving record earlier this season.

“It’s been a long season and they’ve been working really hard,” Lotter said about both Spacciapolli and Pucci-Schaefer. “It’s going to be the peak of their performance.”

Even with the experience and pedigree that both girls have there are some nerves that come with the competing in the state meet.

“There are still some nerves because it’s a huge meet,” said Lotter. “But we’ve been working on mental training and coming around to be that whole athlete confidence will supersede the nerves.”

The state meet starts this morning at Ithaca College with the swimming events at 10:30 a.m. and the diving conpetition beginning at 3 p.m. Placement on Friday will determine which swimmers advance to the finals on Saturday. Spacciapollli will be vying for a spot in event 11, the 100-yard breaststroke.