Talawanda High School graduate continues swimming career at Miami University
“It's hard to say goodbye because she's meant so much to the team for all these years, but it's exciting to know that her swimming (is) not over. She's got her next chapter at Miami.”
Talawanda High School graduate Abbie Curry will enter her first year at Miami University this fall, where she will continue her swimming career as part of its division one women’s swimming team.
Curry began swimming competitively at seven when she joined the Oxford Swim and Dive Team (OSDT), for which she still swims. She also joined the Miami University Aquatic Club Makos club swim team in 2015 and Talawanda High School’s team in 2022.
She holds the Talawanda High School swim team records in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke, said Talawanda and OSDT coach Steve Pasquale.
Curry said she has always loved the sport.
“Swimming has always stuck with me ... even some days when I don't want to go, it feels good to get in the water,” Curry said.
In high school, Curry qualified for the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) state tournament every year in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke events. She won first place at the district competition and seventh place at the state competition in the 50-meter freestyle her junior year, according to records from OHSAA.
Curry also qualified for the state competition in the 200-meter freestyle relay her first, junior and senior years of high school, as well as the 400-meter freestyle relay during her junior year, according to OHSAA.
She continued to deliver strong performances this summer at the OSDT championship and Makos sectionals meets.
At the OSDT meet, Curry broke team records in all three events that she swam: the 50-meter freestyle, 50-meter breaststroke, and 100-meter individual medley races, Pasquale said.
Chris McKinney, the head coach of the Makos team, described her swimming at the Makos meet as “one of the best sectional meets she’s had.”
Her coaches characterized Curry as a talented athlete. McKinney pointed to her “ability to compartmentalize” during her races.
“If Abbie gets up and has a race that's not her best, it doesn't ruin her whole weekend,” McKinney said.
Pasquale described Curry as an asset to her team.
“I think Abbie's greatest strength was her ability to swim fast in our relays,” Pasquale said. “When we were down, I didn't necessarily think that we were out because I knew that she would find that second gear, and more often than not she ended up passing kids.”
Curry initially committed to swim at Florida Atlantic University before switching to Miami, where she will swim under head coach Samantha Pitter. Curry is a sprinter, meaning she mainly swims shorter races, and expects to swim mostly freestyle and breaststroke, as those were her main races in high school.
She plans to major in exercise science and is considering a career as an occupational therapist.
“It's hard to say goodbye,” Pasquale said, “because she's meant so much to the team for all these years, but it's exciting to know that her swimming (is) not over. She's got her next chapter at Miami.”
