The Day's All-Area Swimmer of the Year: Fitch co-op's Delaney Reck
Dec. 18—If you didn't already know Delaney Reck, the duration of a swim meet might not be the best time to chat with her.
"She's just very dedicated to her talent, to her craft," said Alison Colussi, coach of the Fitch High School cooperative swim team for which Reck was a senior all-state selection this season.
"She's incredibly strong mentally when she's prepared to race, especially this season. She was mentally on all season long. When she's ready to go, she's ready to go. She knows what she's good at. She's not scared to up the mental ante to where she needs to be."
Reck, who used that precision to win Eastern Connecticut Conference championships in all four of her events, earning the league's prestigious Swimmer of the Meet honor, was named The Day's 2022 All-Area Swimmer of the Year.
She led Fitch to its first ECC regular-season title since 2008 with a pair of dual meet wins over East Lyme before dominating the conference championship meet with victories in the 50-yard freestyle (24.10 seconds) and 100 backstroke (59.86), as well as triumphs in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
She went on to finish second in the Class L state meet in the 50 freestyle (24.33) and third in the 100 backstroke (59.28), earning all-state honors in both, and was sixth in the State Open in the backstroke (59.51).
And yet chatting with Reck, who will swim for Division III Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and major in environmental studies, isn't a segment to be missed.
She is a history buff, landing at a college adjacent to the historic Gettysburg Battlefield (the athletic teams there are aptly named the Bullets). She plays flute in the Stonington High School band (students from Stonington, Wheeler and New London all compete as part of the Fitch co-op.)
Reck often drives the other Stonington swimmers to practice at UConn Avery Point in a Ford SUV.
And her interest in the environment dates back to an eighth-grade science fair project in which she picked up trash on the beach, finding the amount of balloons, ropes and wrappers to be "astounding."
"I'm passionate about the environment. I was really interested," said Reck, who takes an AP environmental science course at Stonington. "I would always talk to my parents about it. You see trash on the beach, plastic bags in trees on the highway, it's sad to see there was just a bunch of garbage around. You're seeing a lot of animals being harmed because of humans.
"I want to help protect, rebuild the environment."
Delaney's older brothers, Keegan and Aaron, also swam at Fitch. Joining what seemed to be the family sport, Delaney began swimming when she was 5 or 6 when the family lived in Dalton, Massachusetts.
When not in season at Fitch, Reck swims for the Westerly-Pawcatuck YMCA Dolphins, representing the Dolphins along with fellow Fitch swimmer Michael Urgo at the USA Sectional Championship in Ithaca, N.Y., in March.
"Swimming is definitely a really demanding sport," said the 6-foot Reck, who began swimming the backstroke as a freshman in high school at the behest of then-head coach Molly Condron, who recognized her talent in the event.
"For swimming, you are just constantly working yourself. I'm pretty competitive myself and I love being fast. I love the competition. Even sometimes I hate it because it's hard. But I do love the payout. Get out of the pool and say, 'I did that.'"
At the ECC championship meet, Reck achieved a feat she has dreamed of in her career, winning Swimmer of the Meet honors. It was a bittersweet moment, though, as her Fitch team, which won the regular-season title, conceded the championship meet to East Lyme.
"A lot of people put in a lot of effort. I'm proud of my team for that," Reck said. "I'm sad we didn't get to win ECCs, but beating East Lyme twice is really good anyway.
"For me it was incredible. That has been something that I've been wanting to do. I'm sad we weren't able to beat East Lyme. It was really exciting to win Swimmer of the Meet. It's the end and I was glad it ended the way it ended. I made the most of my four years."
Reck enjoyed the atmosphere of the cooperative team and the camaraderie of high school swimming in general — "high school teams are just different; everyone has sort of a bond," she said.
Colussi said the leadership of Fitch's three seniors was more necessary than ever this season with 27 swimmers. She said that despite Reck's finely-honed focus, she never withdrew into herself at the expense of her teammates.
"I'm sad to leave my team," Reck said. "I love my team. The co-op helps us meet people from different schools, around the town and around our conference. I feel like our team is really special."
The Day's 2022 All-Area Swimming and Diving Team
Player of the Year — Delaney Reck (Fitch co-op)
200-yard medley relay — Fitch co-op (Delaney Reck, Laura Letellier, Elliott Singer, Anna Orphanides)
100, 200 freestyle — Addison Fulling (Fitch co-op)
200 individual medley — Elliott Singer (Fitch co-op)
50 freestyle, 100 butterfly — Riley Anderson (Bacon Academy)
Diving — Lauren Hinckley (East Lyme)
500 freestyle — Avery Anderson (Bacon Academy)
200 freestyle relay — East Lyme (Ella Pape, Lauren Hinckley, Julia Morcos, Sandra Kirvelevicius)
100 breaststroke — Laura Letellier (Fitch co-op)
400 freestyle relay — Fitch co-op (Addison Fulling, Jai-Lynn Wheeler, Anna Orphanides, Delaney Reck)
Utility — Julia Gathy (Waterford), Natalie Bezanson (NFA)
