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Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a high school athlete that’s a state champion, swims four to five hours a day, is awake from 4:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, has a 4.5 GPA with four AP classes, and final choices for college came down to UCLA, Georgia, Alabama, Duke and Yale?
Sure, it would be nice but there is no way that could happen, could it?
If your name is Brooke Bennett and you’re a senior at Granada it is.
Bennett is the CIF State defending champion in the 500 freestyle and is ready for her final campaign as a high school swimmer. Last weekend was the East Bay Athletic League meet, with the North Coast Section championships set for this weekend, and the CIF State championships the following weekend.
And yes, she is living the life mentioned above, with her world surrounded by swimming.
“It’s insane,” Bennett said. “People don’t realize it – it’s hard.”
Look at a normal week: Up at 4:45 a.m. and to the pool where they swim 5:15-7 a.m. Then it’s home and time to get ready for school where she is at by 8:30 a.m. School is out at 2:07 p.m. and Bennett heads home for 45 minutes, before heading off for practice where she’s in the pool from 3:45-5:45 p.m. Some days the work in the pool is followed by 45 minutes of work – weights, etc. – then it’s home around 7 p.m. From there it’s dinner, followed by homework until 10 p.m.
That’s the daily grind during the week. Of course there’s practice on Saturday, with Sunday a day of rest.
“I usually get up around 11 or 12, stay around the house and do homework,” Bennett said of her off-day.
I have written before about how this life is not for everyone, but the best swimmers embrace it.
“I have no regrets,” said Bennett of the time commitment. “I love the sport and I love the people. I manage my time so much better because of swimming. But you’re right – it’s not for everyone.”
Bennett swims for the iconic Pleasanton Seahawks and their longtime coach Steve Morsilli. The team is certainly known around the country and sends swimmers to major college programs every year.
“She’s just a good, all-around girl,” Morsilli said of Bennett, echoing it’s not a life for everyone.
Under Morsilli’s coaching Bennett has excelled, reaching two finals at the last U.S. Open Swimming championships and he knows the best is yet to come.
Bennett has moved into the category as an elite distance swimmer, something else that’s not for everyone. Races like the 1,500 and mile are long and certainly can be tedious. But Bennett gets it.
“She’s figured it out,” Morsilli said. “It’s come to her attention that she gets better the longer she swims.”
Which is why Bennett is the defending state champion in the 500 free, the longest distance in high school swimming. In club and then at college, Bennett will swim in even longer races.
“I don’t mind the mile,” Bennett said. “In the longer races it just depends on how much it hurts. The last time I swam the mile, my goggles came off when I hit the water. I actually stopped and put my goggles back on. I was not going to swim 66 laps without my goggles.”
The task at hand is defending her NCS and CIF titles over the next couple of weeks. It’s been a rough year so far for Bennett. In January she had her wisdom teeth out, then had the flu late in February.
The two meant some down time and her training suffered, but as the year has gone on, things have gotten better.
“I’ve been training well the last couple of weeks,” Bennett said. “I want to say I’m around 85 to 90 percent. I felt good in the 200, but in the 500 I missed the aerobic capacity. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”
Over the course of the next couple weeks, Bennett’s biggest competition should come from her Seahawks’ teammates. Swimmers like Rylee Hutchinson (Amador), Isabella Ferguson (Carondelet) and former Seahawk Lillyana Caples are all of the elite ranks.
“They should be really good races,” Bennett said of NCS and CIF. “There are so many good swimmers from the Seahawks.”
And if she comes up short, Bennett will be fine as at this point of the year, the swimmers are training through the high school season, looking ahead at the big club meets that take place during the summer.
“Since I won it (last year) – that’s something no one can ever take it away from me,” Bennett said. “I’m just excited to swim with my friends this last year. I think both our relay teams can do really well.”
And then it’s off to college at the University of Georgia.
“I took visits to Alabama, Georgia, UCLA, Duke and Yale,” Bennett said. “My top three were UCLA, Georgia and Yale. I picked Georgia because I was treated so well there. I just loved the campus and the people. I love their business department, and they also have split training (the women train with women, the men’s team trains with just the men). It’s hard to train with males that are all so fast.”
After wrapping up the final two weeks of her high school career, it’s time to think of college and other swimming competitions. Just a reminder – the Olympics are in the United States in 2028 in Los Angeles.
“I really want all four years of Georgia,” Bennett said. “The Olympics are so tough to make. Making the Olympic trials is a goal. If I could do that, I would be fulfilled. Then what happens is whatever happens.”
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
