Five months ago, freshman Diana Capota would find herself waking up to a glorious sunrise in Romania, dodging floating obstacles while swimming through a grungy, green-water pool. Today, she is a varsity swimmer at South.

Capota moved from Romania to Glenview. She was a competitive swimmer in Romania with multiple national victories in the 50 and 100 meter back-stroke.

“The first time I went to nationals my time was so small, my coach was so surprised and didn’t think I would be a champion,” Capota explained.

Capota’s first experience at nationals came at the young age often. According to Capota it was not as successful as she had hoped, however she still kept training to become the swimmer she is today.

“Every time I get in the water it makes me feel powerful,” Capota said. Capota says that her biggest motivation for the sport is the love and passion she has for it.

Capota began learning English in kindergarten. Along with English, she also speaks fluent German and Romanian.

After transferring to South, she first had trouble expressing exactly what she wanted to say using the English language. However, she eventually adapted to the mannerisms and lingo that South students use every day.

“[Being in America] was at first a little hard because I would try to give a synonym for the word because […] because in Romania it was all [about grammar] and they didn’t care [about your vocabulary that] you were speaking,” Capota said.

Along with language there have been other things that Capota has adjusted to, like her new teammates.

“At first I didn’t think that everybody [on varsity] would be so nice,” Capota said.

Capota explained that her teammates in Romania were only concerned with themselves, while the varsity teammates welcomed Capota to the South swimming family.

Varsity teammate Kelly Cordes said that Capota brings energy to the team, and she is always there for support and to high five her teammates. After becoming a part of South, being on the varsity team excited Capota. She was ready for the competitions to begin.

“At our first meet against Riverside, the pool had two pools with a divider in between them,” varsity teammate Bailey Moynihan said. “She was in the water in the other pool and went under the divider and was cheering people on so they could see her when they flip turned.”

Capota started swimming for a different reason than most. When she was four years old she discovered she had a back problem, called Scoliosis. This made daily tasks extremely difficult. Capota discovered that swimming was therapeutic on her back.

Capota has more than just her back condition to keep her swimming. She has motivation and support.

Her parents did not only just bring her to her first practice, Capota says that her parents support her greatly, and go to almost every one of her meets.

Capota’s parents moved to Glenview to give Capota and her nine-year-old brother a better life. They did this for their children’s swimming careers and educations.

According to Capota, the education system is much better at South than in Romania. In Romania there would be constant fights between students and teachers, which made South a pleasant surprise for Capota.

Because she is a freshman, Capota swims with both the freshman and varsity teams.

“I prefer [swimming with] varsity because they are much stronger than me and they make me swim the best like them and [it makes me] do the best I can… I prefer a challenge,” Capota stated.

Capota sees South varsity teammate Olivia Smoliga as a swimming role model. She talks about her skills in swimming with admiration.

“I want to be the best I can in my life, and I will never want to stop swimming because it is everything I want to do,” Capota declared.

Capota wants to push herself to be the best she can be and hopes to someday make it to the Olympics.