As the USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team says, “It is no small accomplishment to achieve success both in the swimming pool and in the classroom,” but for senior Caleb Capozella being successful in swimming and in school is more of a “balancing act” than an achievement.

Capozella was recently named  to the 2009 USA Swimming Scholastic All-America team for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average while achieving athletic success.

The award, according to the student/athlete, is one of the biggest of his academic career after the level of his academics increased when he became a diploma International Baccalaureate (IB) student his junior year. This past week he was announced as a Top Ten graduate for the Class of 2010.

His time management comes down to balancing hours spent swimming with hours spent on schoolwork.

“I swim ten months out of the year, usually two hours per day five to six days a week,” he said. “I can’t put a number on the hours spent on homework.”

With the IB program being so demanding and his increased level of swimming competition, Capozella describes this award as the “consummation of my balancing act of academics and athletics.”

He  was not the one who initiated swimming as a sport and admits it was  his mom who made him join a swim team because he was not that involved in athletics. 

“Not that many eight-year-olds initiate their athletics at eight, but after she started me I really pushed to continue,” he said.

Swimming proved to be beneficial in more ways than one when their family decided to move to Green Bay, as  it served as a social transition for Capozella.

“Swimming really helped structure and round out my life,” he said.

When pushed, he humbly admitted that he had qualified for the Speedo Grand Prix, adding,  “But that doesn’t really mean anything to anyone around here.”

Next year, he plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he will swim at the Division One level.

THAT bit of information means A LOT to everyone around here.