SwimmingWORLD magazine has given Santo the
award for the January 2006 Age Group Swimmer of the Month. View the article
here.
Santo Condorelli has joined some of Oregon's
Elite 9-10 year old swimmers by shattering a 34 year record, one of the oldest
in the Oregon Record Books. He bettered Dennis Baker's 1971 9-10 100 fly record
of 1:04.20 with a time of 1:03.15. At the same meet, Santo bettered Brady
Child's 1992 record in the 9-10 50 free with a time of 26.14, bettering the
old record of 26.29.
Born
in Sapporo, Japan the day of the Kobe earthquake.
His mother had a difficult time in labor that was the beginning of many signs
of his greatness.
One sign and the most outstanding was his love for the water.
If he was not in the Onsens (Japanese hot tubs) he was in the tub or shower.
Santo was only six months old when he came to America and began floating at
the YMCA pool in Salem, Oregon.
Because Santo was just a small baby, people in America would always advise
against him being in the hot tub or pool for too long. Thankfully, due to
our time in Japan, we did not listen to American folklore and allowed Santo
to stay in the pool as much as he liked.
At three years old we started to send him to day care to experience the local
scene.
At four years old we put him in The International School for two years where
we met many driven parents.
We began to see that Santo was very active; it was hard for him to stand in
one place and he was always moving.
By Chance we met a wonderful mentor, Kathy Vannoy, who suggested that Santo
take swimming lessons with her local team.
(To be continued)
