MISSION — A trip to the zoo has mutated into multiple trips to the UIL girls swimming and diving state meet for Sharyland High’s Gabby Gonzalez.
Gonzalez will compete in the 100-yard freestyle Tuesday at the Bill Walker Pool and Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio. For Gonzalez, it’s her third trip to the state meet and her goal is to finish in the top eight. She won her regional meet in 53.11 seconds, setting a personal record with that time. Mission Veterans’ Ryann Ramirez will also compete at state as part of Tuesday’s diving competition.
It all started when Gonzalez and her family took a break to eat some snacks while enjoying a day at the zoo.
“Everyone left that table and I was trying to catch up and running,” the junior Rattlers swimmer said. “I didn’t look down and just feel left arm first and it twisted and I broke my arm.”
That led to water therapy.
Henceforth, the star was born.
“I had tried soccer but got tired getting hit in the face with the ball, and really didn’t like softball,” Gonzalez said. “But I enjoyed swimming and then, when I was 12, I started swimming competitively.”
Gonzalez and Sharyland High head coach Tina Jensen have their eyes set on dropping that 53.11 mark to the low 52s. Jensen said Gonzalez’s dedication and hard work, and not letting COVID-19 slow her down, has been key to her success.
“From Day 1, she had the extreme drive and her times in junior high were already good,” Jensen said.
“She has true power in the middle of the pool.”
Gonzalez credits her parents for pointing her toward strength and conditioning as a freshman.
“They noticed I wasn’t improving on my individual events and put me in training to help my strength and conditioning,” Gonzalez said. “That’s helped me a lot the past three years and I’ve been doing crossfit for more strength and conditioning.”
In the long run, Gonzalez said she’d like to crack 49.16, the top time in the state this year.
“Her start is getting better but it’s an area for improvement,” Jensen said. “If you have a bad start, you’re usually done but she’s so strong in the middle of the pool, she can catch you off the wall. And she never slows down.”
Ramirez is making her first trip to state, continuing what has become an annual trip for Mission Veterans’ divers.
The senior diver became interested in that event during a swimming class in junior high, her head coach, Melissa Reyna, said. Now she’s reached the pinnacle of Class 5A diving.
“This was one of her goals,” said Reyna, whose team has taken the top three spots in the district championship meet in each of the past four years. “All three year prior to this she came in third and finally won the district and placed second in the regionals.”
Reyna’s scored skyrocketed since her junior season by close to 25 points, a significant increase in the sport, especially in just one year, and amid a COVID-19 season at that. Now she’s hoping for a little more improvement from her personal scoring record of 282 points. The goal is now to break 300 and, if everything works out, break the school record of 316, owned by Jayden Longoria.
“Her dives have stayed the same. She’s just gotten a lot more confident in herself. We knew she was a good diver, but she just didn’t believe it,” Reyna said. “This year it all came together. Her execution was completely different, she showed so much more confidence on the board and her dives have been extremely impressive.”