Hackley Swimming Star Gianino Named Scholar Athlete

For Hackley senior swimmer Alex Gianino, he knew that if he wanted to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish, he was going to have to excel at the Ivy Preparatory School League championships at Lehman College in the Bronx.

Gianino, who was named the Con Ed Scholar-Athlete of the Week just two days earlier, showed why he earned such a lofty honor when he broke school and league records at the championships on Feb. 8 with a time of 1:52.73 in the 200-individual medley and 58.86 in the 100 breaststroke. The medley time gave Gianino automatic All-American honors and the breaststroke time is under consideration for All-American.

Gianino also anchored the 400-relay team, which broke school and league records in a time of 3:19.82.

"I knew going into the meet how much it was going to mean," Gianino said. "It was my last meet swimming for Hackley and I knew that if I was going to break those records I was going to have to do it at that meet. It was tough because I am in the main part of my season with my club team, the Badger Swim Club (in Larchmont), so to be able to accomplish this at this time of year made it extra special."

He is hoping to do more special things when he attends the University of North Carolina to study sports medicine next year in addition to swimming for the Tar Heels.

"I want to stay in athletics after college so I figure that this is a good major to be in," Gianino said. "I would like to be a trainer for a professional team."

He said if he had his choice of teams it would be the Miami Dolphins, his favorite team since he was a little kid. He grew up liking them and not the two local teams, the Jets or Giants, because he followed his dad who grew up rooting for the South Florida squad.

The fact that he was named Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week shows that Gianino has the smarts to accomplish such a thing. Still, winning the award was something he didn't expect.

"I was surprised when I heard that I was named Con Ed Scholar-Athlete of the Week," Gianino said. "I never thought that swimming was big enough to earn something like that. I thought you had to play football or a big sport like that to get named."

There was a time when Gianino played three sports.  Besides swimming, he also played lacrosse and basketball up until he was 13 years old. He swam at the time for Brian Dorsey at the Iona College Gaels Aquatic Club and Dorsey told him that if he wanted to be an elite swimmer, he would have to give up the other two sports and fully devote himself to swimming.

"When I decided to just swim, I never thought it turn out the way it has," Gianino said. "That decision really has paid off."