Ricardo Falcini, also known as Ricky, is part of the boys’ swimming team. He first started swimming way back when he was six years old and lived in Italy. However, he started swimming competitively at age 12 when he moved to America and joined Miami Swimming.

Falcini first joined swimming as a way to stay in shape, but eventually after a couple years of intense practice, he started enjoying it.  When asked about his goals pertaining to swimming Falcini said, “I just want to try my best, and get the best times I can before I move on to university or college, so that I won’t have any regrets after senior year.” Falcini clearly wants to be the best he can be and do the best he can do.

Being a fast swimmer like Falcini comes from all the hard work put into their practice. “I typically just go through the daily practice and training my coach assigns. We usually start with dry land exercises, followed by stretching, and a typical 400 meter warm up.”

Not only does Falcini prepare physically, but he also prepares mentally. Swimming takes a powerful mindset and strategy because one bad stroke could cost the team the game. “My mind basically tunes out when I start a race, I stare intensely at the line underneath the pool leading toward the T. I try and hold my breath for the longest time until I start swimming at a normal pace, and keep a song in my mind to match my strokes,” Falcini said.

In most swimmers’ careers, there is one race that they will never forget. For Falcini, that race happened not too long ago when he swam 50 yards. Not only did Falcini catch the opponent and achieve first place, but he also achieved his best time.

The hardest part of swimming is balancing it with school work, however, Falcini has his own strategy. School is very important to Falcini, as he is in the IB program, so he manages to focus on school work and swimming at the same time. Swimming helps him clear his mind in order to come up with ideas and thoughts for essays. In addition, thinking helps him ignore the pain and difficulties of swimming. In turn, Ricardo Falcini is always doing something productive in swimming or school.