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10/07/2013 12:00 AMSwim team captain Karissa Ferraro nearly lost her senior season—and more—thanks to a misjudged fly ball this summer while playing softball recreationally at The Pit.
“I was playing left field and I got a fly ball to me and I guess I completely misjudged it,” says Karissa. “[The ball] hit right in my eye and broke the orbital floor bone underneath my eye. I had to get a titanium plate put in.”
The result of the injury was severe enough that Karissa’s doctor didn’t allow her any physical activity for a month and called for a two-week delay when swimming season started. The two weeks without swimming was the toughest part for Karissa, who says she’s known as “the neighborhood fish” by those on her street.
“It was hard at first because they’re all swimming really hard and practicing and then there’s me just sitting there,” says Karissa. “It’s awful just to see them do what you love to do and some people actually complain about the workouts when I just wish I could be in there.”
Although it was hard for Karissa not to be involved with her teammates in the pool, Head Coach Jacci D’Auria said she handled the situation with class and motivated her teammates throughout her time on the sidelines.
“She has been so motivational to the girls who are swimming, especially the new girls, because she’s been cheering them on, talking to them, and giving them some tips. She’s been at practice every single day, even though she hasn’t been able to get in the pool, so she’s been a very positive influence to everyone else,” says D’Auria. “They see that although she hasn’t been able to swim, she’s been at practice and doing anything she can to help the other girls. I know it was so tough for her to see everyone else in the pool and not be able to swim, but she’s been very mature about it.”
Karissa finally returned to the pool for the first time in a meet on Sept. 25 and raced what she calls her favorite event—the 100 butterfly.
“I love butterfly. I love the movement that you need to get in your mind for it, the power you need, and the muscles you need to work for it,” says Karissa, a two-time recipient of the Yellowjackets’ Sportsmanship Award. “I love the feeling of when I finish the last stroke of the fly technique and just push the wall.”
Karissa didn’t disappoint in her season debut, swimming the event in 1:27.62. She came in fourth place at the meet, but more important, she set a personal record after her hiatus from the pool.
“Setting my personal record in the 100 fly on my first meet back was an indescribable feeling,” says Karissa, who is also a thrower on both the indoor and outdoor track teams and wants to swim in college. “I was so excited to just dive in and do what I love and finish the race and coming out of the pool and having Jacci tell me that I just got my best time was honestly the best feeling ever. It made me realize how much stronger I’ve become while recovering from my injury and that I can do anything I put my mind to.”