Jan 12, 2019 6 min read

Gennarino Conzeminus laughs now about his apprehensions regarding swimming.

“I was deathly afraid because I seriously thought that there were sharks in the water and I was going to die if I actually jumped in,” said the McMurray resident.

Once Conzeminus took the plunge, however, his competition recoiled. Admitting he “had no clue” what he was doing when his mother signed him up for the Ridgewood Swim Team in Wisconsin, Conzeminus won the 25-yard breaststroke race at the All-City Meet in Madison.

“After I won that little meet, I really got into it,” said the 17-year-old son of Sabina and Jay Conzeminus. “I really started liking the sport.”

Since that debut back in 2009, the sport has rewarded Conzeminus for his acceptance, determination and dedication. Today, he ranks among the Top 5 breaststroke specialist in the district and the state. Plus, he recently signed a commitment letter to Seton Hall University, which has won back-to-back Big East Conference championships.

“That was definitely a plus,” Conzeminus said of the Pirates’ success.

Derek Sapp was another positive. He swam at Baldwin High School and Edinboro University before entering the coaching ranks. He played a pivotal role in the Seton Hall’s success for four seasons before being elevated to head coach in 2017.

“When I first arrived on campus, I fell in love with it,” Conzeminus said. “And, the opportunities there are endless.”

Though he has a talent for art, sketching and drawing, Conzeminus plans to apply the 4.4 GPA he is maintaining as a senior at Pittsburgh Central Catholic towards obtaining an MBA at Seton Hall. He plans to enroll in the business school’s five-year program.

“I’m really excited about it because they also have internships downtown in New York City,” he said.

Conzeminus is equally enthused about his senior season at Central Catholic. It commenced with a bang in August when he attained USA All-America scholastic and athletic honors. Additionally, he placed in the Top 10 during the Eastern Senior Zone Championships, finishing fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:08.10 and securing seventh in the 200 in 2:33.19. In December, he competed in multiple events from the 50 to 200 free; 100 to 200 breast and 200 individual medley at the TPIT 57th annual holiday meet held at Pitt. His top showing was seventh in the breaststroke.

At the end of February, he is expected to be a force during the WPIAL Championships. He looks to improve upon his fourth-place showing in the 100-yard breaststroke and lower his 58.15 time, which was almost four seconds behind Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny (54.94) and North Allegheny’s Jerry Chen (57.43). Both are back this season as defending champion and runner-up respectively.

Conzeminus also looks to better his showing at states. He placed eighth in last year’s PIAA Championships with a 57.89 time. Matheny won in 54.55 and all but one of the top eight finishers was an underclassmen.

“No one will beat Josh,” Mt. Lebanon swim coach Tom Donati said of Matheny, who ranks as one of the top swimmers in the nation with record-breaking times, “but Gennarino will be as good as anybody in the South Hills. He is an outstanding swimmer, worker and person.”

Thanks to the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club, Conzeminus has honed his skills. Thanks to Central Catholic, he has rounded into the person he is today. He is an honors student, a member of the cross country team and the Free Verse Club, which has advanced to the quarterfinals and the semifinals of the Varsity Vocals International Championship of High School A Cappella.

“It’s a fun pastime,” Conzeminus said. “It’s what I like to do.”

He said that Central has provided opportunities not just academically, but also morally, which enabled him to grow more as a person. Time management provided the biggest area for growth. For instance, Conzeminus travels by bus to reach his destinations.

“He does well with his crazy schedule,” admits Donati. “He rides PAT every day from Oakland to Lebo.”

Since he enrolled at Central Catholic the game plan proved most practical. Conzeminus used to swim for the Peters Township Swim Club until he became a freshman in high school. It was then that he joined the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club.

Whether running a personal record of 18:13 in his cross country races or clocking 58 seconds or lower in breaststroke races, time is of the essence for Conzeminus.

This spring, he should be a four-time WPIAL and PIAA qualifier. His times should help the Vikings improve upon their relay showings, too. His teams finished fifth in 2017 and seventh in 2016 and 2018 in the medley as well as second and fourth in the past two WPIAL championships for the 400 free relays.

Work, both physical and mental, have helped Conzeminus drop times. For example, he went from placing second-to-last as a sophomore to eighth place in states in the breaststroke. Conzeminus noted he put more “emphasis” on improvement and took swimming more seriously.

“Primarily, I focused on the mental aspect because I was having trouble with that and controlling my nerves,” he said, noting that he did yoga and meditation to help himself.

He also lifted weights and benefited from swimming with MLAC. When he lived in Wisconsin, Conzeminus competed for one of the state’s biggest clubs.

“They were the powerhouse like North Allegheny,” he said. “So I was used to that. At Lebo, I found that strong team aspect. It’s probably the best swim club I have been to.”

From swimming, Conzeminus has learned much. The sport has taught him to “stay dedicated” and “value” himself as an individual. It has also allowed him to grow as Conzeminus equated swimming to a family.

That family will surely swell at Seton Hall and beyond. Because he maintains citizenship in the U.S., Canada and Italy, Conzeminus could one day gain worldwide recognition. In addition to his goals of finishing top three at WPIALs and states, Conzeminus said he wanted to go to Olympic Trials.

“To represent your country,” he said. “That would be awesome.”

Age: 17

Parents: Sabina and Jay

Siblings: Ethena, 13; Domenic, 8

Community: Peters Township

High School: Central Catholic

GPA: 4.4

Sports: Swimming, cross country

Activities: Free Verse, A Cappella club; sketching, drawing, lifeguarding and swim instructor at St. Clair Country Club

College choice: Seton Hall

Major: Business

Color: Blue

Food: Lamb

Class: Art history

Favorite artist: Picasso

Teacher: Mr. Michael Sheridan

Book: The Help

Author: Suzanne Collins

Swimming vs. cross country: My focus is on swimming because that is my passion. Initially I didn’t want to do cross country. I thought this is awful and that I would always hate it. But then I realized it helped me. After four years, it helped me maintain my body weight because with swimming I always eat so much. With swimming, I always want to eat but with cross country I almost never want to eat. It stabilized how I was. Plus, cross country helped me with my distance (swim) events, too.