It can be a bit of a scary proposition when your parents come to you in the middle of your sophomore year in high school and tell you that due to a change in jobs the family would be moving to a new location.
That’s what happened to twin sisters Heather and Colleen Keck when their dad (Dan) was afforded a new employment opportunity here in the Cape Fear region and the family relocated from Port Clinton, Ohio. But instead of looking at it as if they were being uprooted from their familiar surroundings the Keck girls embraced the move with a positive attitude, and it has–they say–turned out well.
“We were actually pretty excited and looking forward to it,” Colleen Keck said. “Certainly the dynamics are a lot different since the school here is a lot bigger, actually about four times bigger, than our previous school.”
The thing that had made the transition a lot easier had been the girls’ involvement in swimming.
“We started [swimming competitively] when we were about eight-years old in Findlay [Ohio], both of us getting into it about the same,” Heather said. “We tried a lot of sports when we were younger and swimming was the one we fell in love with in middle school, where we had a really good coach. Once we found out where we would be going to school we did some research and starting exchanging emails with Coach (John) Pellizarri, and practice last year started two days after we got here.
“The fact we were involved in swimming helped with the transition because we were able to make friends faster.”
There were certainly some huge differences coming from Ohio to Wilmington, but none that the girls have not been able to overcome.
“I like it, it’s definitely better than having snow,” Colleen said. “I guess one of the biggest adjustments is there are a lot of pools in Ohio, every school had one, so you pretty much practiced every day. Here we are limited a bit because we share pool time but it doesn’t hamper your development in any way. We get a little less pool time but we make the most of the time we have.”
John Pellizarri is the girls coach at Ashley. He’s a former collegiate swimmer at SUNY (State University of New York) in Newpaltz, N.Y., and a second-grade teacher at Gregory Elementary School and is in his third year as the Screaming Eagles swim coach.
He said the girls have adjusted well to the different surroundings, and they fit right in almost immediately.
“Heather and Colleen are really good kids, they are great students, they are easily coachable, they both have great work ethics and, perhaps most importantly, they love swimming,” Pellizarri said. “They got here in October last year and they started right off as if they had been here forever. Heather was voted one of our team captains.”
Colleen’s best event is the 100 freestyle and she is member of four of the relay teams. Heather is Ashley’s top 50 freestyle swimmer and, along with her sister, is on four of the relay teams.
“They are both very important in the scheme of things, and in our team’s success,” Pellizarri said. “Relays count for double points in the meets (mostly consisting of several teams rather that dual meets) and if we didn’t have even one of those girls we’re nowhere nearly as successful. Everyone is replaceable in their own way but it would be very hard to replace those two from a points-standpoint.”
Three of the relay teams the girls are on have already qualified for the regional championship meet, and Pellizarri said he expects the medley relay team will also qualify.
The girls team is 1-1 in meets so far. The boys are finding it a little tougher and stand at 0-2 entering a meet Thursday at Brunswick Community College.
Colleen did indicate there was the typical sibling rivalry, but she added it’s a good thing, despite the fact they participate in different events, and at difference distances
“There is definitely a competition between us, but it’s fun,” Colleen said. “It pushes us both to bet better.”
There is another difference between here and Ohio, and it’s in the classroom.
“I think, academically, Ashley is tougher,” Colleen said. “In Ohio we had seven classes each day and they were shorter (approximately 45 minutes in length). Here you have four classes each day and they are longer. It’s a good thing, and a bad thing. If you are having a good day and like the subject it’s good. But if you don’t like a certain subject it can be a long class, and a long day.”
Heather said, overall, the move has been a positive one. Certainly they like the fact the weather is nicer and they like living so close to the beach. They also like the competitiveness of the meets.
“The competition is tough because there a lot of good swimmers here but it is also a lot of fun,” Heather said. “We both like it and we both are working hard to qualify for regional, especially in the relays. The main thing is to improve every time out and do the best you can, and have some fun doing it.”
