'Always loved the water': Hillsborough teen with autism thrives on high school swim team

Tommy Marcketta is at home in the water. Always has been, even as a baby, said his mother Elizabeth Marcketta of her 15-year-old Hillsborough High School freshman.

But even the water − and swimming − wasn't always easy.

Tommy, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 7, works hard at improving as a swimmer. Already an accomplished Special Olympian, Tommy wanted to have a go at his high school swim team and told his mom last fall he wanted to join the Raiders.

She had some hesitation.

ASD affects Tommy's social and emotional skills’ development. It can make new situations and environments difficult for him to navigate.

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 35 of 8-year-old children in New Jersey were identified with ASD in 2020, the latest data available.

"From the minute I diagnosed him, there was this 'ah ha' moment and he was so happy that there was a word − autism spectrum disorder − that described him," said Dr. Tara Matthews, a developmental behavioral pediatrician at Children's Specialized Hospital, a RWJBarnabas Health facility, in New Brunswick. "… ‘Kids with high-functioning autism are a little bit different. They're not your classical autism − nonverbal. Autism does come in all different shapes and sizes.'"

And Tommy wanted to be on the high school swim team.

"As long as I can remember, I've always loved the water," said Tommy. "It makes me happy. Swimming alone gets boring though. I don't always like being by myself. I like being on a team. I wanted to be on a team."

Water seemed to be a calming force for Tommy. There's a reason for that, they learned while he was in therapy. Water helps regulate a person's sensory system.

"Water was someplace he always felt at home," his mom said. "He loves everything about water. He loves even going to aquariums to look at fish. Water has always been very calming for him. All I knew as a mom was that it was good for him, but I didn't I didn't know why."

More: It’s Autism Acceptance Month! Here’s what autistic advocates want you to know, and do.

Special Olympics was Tommy's first foray into competitive swimming when he joined in 2019. He and his family, with father Phil Marcketta and sister Ella, 10, were looking for an activity that Tommy would enjoy where he could be himself. Other efforts proved difficult.

"There's not a lot of places that autistic kids can go and not have to kind of hide who they are and try to fit in," Elizabeth said. "We tried rec sports. We tried all sorts of different things. And a friend of mine who works with children said, 'Have you thought about Special Olympics?' It was such a great match from the very first time we were there. You could see Tommy when we would walk in to the (Jewish Community Center) in Bridgewater, where they practice − you can see him relax. He just felt that he was at a place where he got to be himself."

Two years in, Tommy, who is very self-aware, told his mom that he thought he was an "okay" swimmer, but he felt he could be better.

"We talked to his coach who set him up with an instructor who worked one-on-one with him to improve his technique," she said. "That, combined with the competitive swimming on the Special Olympics team, is really what helped him become a much better swimmer − someone who also could compete outside of Special Olympics."

Tommy was determined to make the high school team. With the help of his Special Olympics coach Stephanie Johnson at the JCC, Tommy trained four to five times a week leading up to tryouts. Under the care of Matthews, Tommy also participated in occupational and physical therapy at Children’s Specialized Hospital with therapist Rachael Hintze.

Therapy wasn’t new to Tommy, said Matthews, who has overseen his care and therapy sessions for years. This time, though, it was Tommy who asked for the assist.

Matthews said therapy is always personalized to the child's needs, and physical therapy gave him more self-body awareness. Hintze has done wonders helping Tommy identify what he is feeling and be able to express it, his mom added.

"I think the biggest thing his mom and I did was really advocate for him with the school and making sure he got therapy at school in terms of individual counseling," Matthews said. "School is where a lot of his problem were. Getting along socially with other kids and making friends and just in terms of his anxieties and his fears, which do stem a bit from his autism and rigid thinking.

“Tommy has really done a lot of this himself. And he's been very, very good at asking questions both at my office visits or during therapy. He does have very good self-awareness. I think it's been sort of a team effort between his therapist and Children's, me, his mom and Tommy himself, who has gotten him ready for high school and swim team."

Being a freshman was not easy and adding swim team tryouts was another challenge, he said.

"I knew I needed help," Tommy said. "As soon as school started, I knew I needed some help."

According to Matthews, children don't need therapy just because they're autistic. They need therapy to gain certain skills. And sometimes, as in this case, a refresher in coping skills was needed for Tommy.

"When we come up against the time where we realize that there's a skill that Tommy isn't picking up on his own, that's when he goes back for therapy," Elizabeth said. "So he has had multiple rounds of care in (occupational therapy), and he's had physical therapy to help him with some general strengthening and he just finished the most recent rounds. It was so much smoother because he had people who knew he could depend on and strategies that he learned in therapy and then relearn in therapy with Rachael."

Tommy made the Hillsborough High School swim team on Nov. 21.

"I got on," Tommy said, though he is modest, saying he feels he is "not as good" as other swimmers.

Tommy last season swam freestyle and backstroke. He swam in every meet and helped the team win its section.

"That was just amazing to me. I was incredulous," Matthews said. "I mean, I've seen him swim. So I know. He's a really, really good swimmer. But I was just thrilled that he was able to make the transition from Special Olympics swimming to being on a regular high school swim team."

Tommy made friends with his teammates, some of whom even volunteered at a Special Olympics meet and others came to cheer him on.

"There were a lot of very nice people on the team," Tommy said. "And the atmosphere is completely different from Special Olympics. Because we were a very competitive team. And Special Olympics − it's all much more individual than on a high school team. A high school team you win or lose together."

Tommy also liked that in being on the swim team he proved to himself that he could make a commitment and stick to it.

"It was hard to make myself go every day," he said. "But I liked that I made myself go. I've tried to go more often before, and I never ended up doing it because I didn't have to go. I just keep telling myself I’d do it the next day. I did it here. And I liked the discipline of it."

Tommy not only practiced and competed with the team, but he was fully engaged with the team’s social activities and traditions. He attended pre-meet pasta dinners and shaved his head with the team. Because, as he said, they were "social occasions."

These are things his mom never pictured Tommy doing.

Elizabeth also credited Hillsborough coaches Todd Sudol and Adele Morgan with Tommy’s success.

"Tommy doesn't always read social cues all that well, but he really enjoyed it − just to be hanging out," she said. "The social aspect. He always wanted to have friends and be part of a group, but never quite knew how. This really gave him that experience and he loved it."

Tommy's grades in class have been "wonderful," too.

"I was first struggling to get my work in, but by the end of the season I was very capable of doing both," he said. "It took some figuring out."

Though the high school season is over, Tommy continues swimming and will compete in Special Olympic events. Come November, he plans on trying out again for the high school team.

He doesn't need luck. Tommy says the key is to "work hard."

And that's exactly what he plans to do.

email: cmakin@gannettnj.com

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Hillsborough NJ teen with autism thrives on high school swim team