For Allison Fenska, the feeling of being in the water is – at times – indescribable. The rising junior at Moorestown Friends School said when she gets out of the pool, she feels like she’s accomplished something.
“It truly brings happiness to me; there’s nothing else like it,” Fenska said.
And Fenska certainly accomplished something having made history for her school. In July, Fenska learned she had been named an All-American by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association in the 50-yard freestyle. This makes Fenska the first-ever swimming All-American at Moorestown Friends School.
Fenska is one of only seven girls from New Jersey named All-American in an individual event. To earn the distinction, a swimmer must post one of the top 100 times nationwide in an event. In March, Fenska earned a silver medal in the 50-yard freestyle and bronze in the 100-yard butterfly at the two-day NJSIAA Meet of Champions. Both of her times broke MFS records and qualified her for All-American consideration.
Growing up in Sicklerville, Fenska and her family would often go to the local pool down the street. Over the course of two summers, Fenska developed friendships with the kids on the swim team, and so, naturally, she joined the team as well. When her coaches noticed she was pretty fast, she joined a year-round swim program.
At the age of 9, Fenska began swimming year round, and that was when her love for the sport truly began to develop. She said she would go to meets and encounter new people, and all of it just enhanced her passion for swimming.
At 12, Fenska joined the Jersey Wahoos Swim Club in Mount Laurel where she still swims today. With Wahoos, Fenska learned not only how to work on her own abilities but about the importance of being a good teammate.
Fenska said she’s naturally competitive, and swimming taps into that facet of her personality and drive.
“It such a great feeling to put in the work and to be passionate about it and then get to see a great result,” Fenska said. “It’s a satisfying feeling to me.”
During the summer months, Fenska, a Haddon Heights resident, practices every day in the morning. She said the sport is like a step away from reality for her. When it’s been a long day or something is stressing her out, she goes to practice and just lets go. She said swimming has always come naturally, and so being in the pool is her happy place.
That’s not to say Fenska hasn’t had faced her hurdles. She said as she’s gotten to the more elite levels of competition, she’s battled with the mental aspects of the sport. She said seeing other top-tier athletes can be – at times – intimidating, and it can be difficult when a meet doesn’t go her way.
“You have to put that behind you and keep going,” Fenska said. “If you put in the work, you will get what you want.”
The most important thing she’s learned is how important it is to stay positive and focused. She said being surrounded by encouraging teammates has been a tremendous motivator.
At states, her coach informed her she’d qualified for All-Americans, but with a six-month waiting period, she hadn’t given it much thought after that. When she received the email saying she’d earned the distinction, she was thrilled by the news.
Fenska said swimmings doesn’t attract as many people as some of the other MFS sports. She said she hopes that her All-American title shows people they can join the team and be successful and that maybe it inspires more people to join next year.
