RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - After six years without a swimming pool of their own due to a complete rebuild of what is now called the Cordova Community Pool, and a program-devouring pandemic, the Cordova swim team has started the long swim back to success.

Swimming coach Gabrielle Avallone, better known as coach Gabi, couldn’t be happier about the team finally getting their pool back.

“The return of the Cordova Community Pool has been the biggest positive factor for the team,” Avallone said. “This alone will help increase numbers on the team.”

And those numbers have been a struggle not only for swimming but also for most sports in the area. Last year, Cordova had seven swimmers on the team compared to 40 during the 2019-20 school year. This was another domino effect the COVID-19 pandemic played on high school sports. This year’s team has 13 members.

Avallone has been coaching at Cordova High School since 2019. She is a talented swimmer in her own right. After four years of swimming at the varsity level for Ponderosa High School, coach Gabi found herself competing for Sierra College in Rocklin where she was a two-time All-American in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 800 freestyle relay. Avallone finished up her schooling with a degree in kinesiology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Besides coaching at Cordova, she’s also the coach for the Folsom Sea Otters swim team.

Avallone loves coaching and has been doing it since she was 14 years old. She knows that any successful program is only as good as its coaches and is extremely thankful for her two assistants, David Cocker and Roxanne Tursi. Cocker is a Cordova swim alumnus and still currently a 200-yard freestyle relay record holder for the school. He also swam for American River College and has been coaching with Avallone since 2020.

This is Tursi’s first year coaching. She is a Spanish teacher at Cordova and an All-American in water polo from the University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton.

“Both of my assistant coaches have been incredible and a crucial part of this team,” Avallone said. “Cordova swimming could not have achieved everything that it has without these coaches. I always tell them that, it takes a team to run a team.”

On Friday, April 22, Cordova hosted the Greater Sacramento League (GSL) Swimming Championships at their brand-new pool complex and they couldn’t have been prouder.

“Everything went well, and we couldn’t have been happier with the overall success of the meet,” Avallone said. “A huge shout out to the Cordova Recreation and Park District (CRPD) for being so supportive and flexible of the high school swim team. They accommodated the swim team’s constantly changing meet schedule the best they could and I am very grateful for this.”

This year’s GSL Championship team honors went to West Campus for boys and girls. The league only had three schools with swim teams: Cordova, Florin, and West Campus. Cordova had four swimmers finish first in one or more events this year at the GSL Championships.

The winners were: senior team captain Kove Peña in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke, senior team captain Catherine Cocker in the 200-yard freestyle, junior Kaeli Savorn in the 100-yard butterfly and freshman assistant captain Themi McKenzie-Macias won the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke.

We are extremely proud of all our athletes and their accomplishments. Next on the agenda for some of the swimmers is to compete in the upcoming CIF Sectionals May 5-7 at Tokay High School in Lodi. There were also two recent record-breaking feats worth mentioning as well.

First, Savorn broke a 22-year old record at the GSL tri-meet on April 8 in the girl’s 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 1:01.43. Rancho Cordova Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Angie Matheu, previously held the record with a time of 1:02.44 along with her many other records. Savorn also holds shot put records at Mitchell Middle School. Second, at the same event Peña broke a record in the boy’s 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.70, that was set by Ethan Porter with a time of 54.57 in 2017. Way to go Kaeli and Kove!

With the 2021-22 swimming season’s end approaching, coach Gabi was very optimistic as she gazed out upon the clear blue waters of the Cordova Community Pool. Avallone sees a brighter future for the Cordova Lancers swim team.

“As I have previously said, it takes a team to run a team,” Avallone said. “It will take a team to rebuild this team. We have been rebuilding it, and the future is as bright as ever for Cordova swimming. There will always be obstacles and tough things that get in the way. This team has shown me what true resilience is.

“I feel very grateful to be a part of Cordova’s swimming journey.”

GO BIG RED!