Nov. 17, 2009

By Justin Kischefsky
Navy Assistant Sports Information Director

It is through our past experiences that we are able to better handle adversity. That was the case with Navy swimmer James Lascara as he warmed up for the start of the 2009 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. Something just didn’t feel right with him as he swam that late February day in Harvard’s Blodgett Pool. Worse, it was the same feeling he had one year earlier in the same pool as he prepared for the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championship. That year, he would go on to have one of the more disappointing meets of his career. This time, he told himself "not again" and was determined to fight through it.

That drive is one of the first things both Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts and Lascara’s teammates mention when talking about him.

"James is the heavyweight champion within the pool in terms of training," said Roberts. "He will not give up being in the first position of any practice set."

"His extraordinary work ethic and devotion to the team allows him to improve each year," said classmate and team captain Frank Komadina.

"James is constantly in front of the lane, pushing himself and others to the limit every single day at practice and in swim meets," said fellow senior Jack Curran.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Lascara began swimming when he was six years old. His parents had signed him up to be part of a team at the local pool, mainly because one of his friends who carpooled with him was on the team. He swam competitively up until he was in the sixth grade, but then stopped.

Over the next two years Lascara competed in several other sports, but never really found one that he liked or excelled at. When he became a freshman at Charlotte Catholic High School, his mom suggested that he give swimming another try.

Despite his hiatus from the sport, Lascara immediately had some success upon his return in the pool. A renewed interest in swimming soon followed.

"I didn’t really want to do it at first," said Lascara of his return to the sport. "My mom forced me into it, but then after some time it became my decision to stay with it."

His initial visit to Navy also was due to a "suggestion" from his parents.

"It was the summer of 2005, between my junior and senior years of high school," said Lascara. "I really wanted to go to triathlon camp and my parents wanted me to go to the Navy swimming camp. Our compromise was that I would do both."

After spending those few days on The Yard, Lascara started to think about attending the Naval Academy. Roberts and then-assistant coach Adam Kennedy kept in contact with Lascara after camp ended and he soon returned to Navy on an official visit. It was then that his mind was made up to attend Navy.

"It really hit home that I wanted to come here when I made my official visit," said Lascara. "I was really persuaded by the tradition that the team upheld. There was an aura about the team that really sparked my interest.

"I also saw everything about Navy and all of its challenges as a positive. Coming back to swimming had made me tougher, and Plebe Summer and the rigor of daily life here sparked my interest even more. I like challenges."

Lascara’s freshman year in the pool would be capped by a strong effort at the Patriot League Championship. He would win the league’s 500 freestyle title while also placing second at the meet in the 400 individual medley and fifth in the 200 butterfly. One week later he would finish in 20th place in the 400 IM and 21st in the 200 fly at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championship.

The end of his sophomore year saw Lascara slated to compete only at the EISL Championship, which was being held on the Harvard campus. It was a difficult meet for Lascara right from the start.

"I remember warming up before the meet and not feeling right," said Lascara. "My legs were sore, my stroke was a little off; in my mind the taper I did to prepare for the meet didn’t work. I was surprised because I felt as if I had a better training year as a sophomore than I did as a freshman."

Lascara would finish 19th in the 500 free and 22nd in the 200 fly at the championship, but those efforts did not meet the expectations he had set for himself prior to the meet.

Midway through his junior year, Lascara learned that he would not be part of the Navy team that would compete at the 2009 Patriot League Championship. He would instead be part of the Navy contingent that was going to compete at the ECAC Championship, a meet that replaced the EISL Meet on Navy’s schedule. This was a disappointment for Lascara.

"I wanted to swim at the Patriot League Championship," said Lascara. "But then I thought that even if I was not competing at the pinnacle meet of our season, there was no reason that I couldn’t have a great ECAC Meet. So I approached it as a great opportunity for me to excel."

As the start of the championship arrived, Lascara found himself back in Blodgett Pool nearly one year to the day of his disappointing 2008 EISL Championship. Also returning, however, was the same bad feeling that he had experienced the previous year in the pool.

"I’m right back where I was and here comes that same feeling that my taper was off," said Lascara. "This time I told myself that it didn’t matter if my legs were sore; I wasn’t going to give in."

Day one of the championship saw Lascara competing in the 500 freestyle event. After posting the best time in the field by well over one second in the trial heats of the event, he went out and won the final with a time of 4:23.15. His margin of victory was 1.7 seconds and his clocking was not only an NCAA ‘B’ cut time, it also ranked third in school history.

"The 500 free was a huge boost for me and my confidence," said Lascara. "It told me that even though I didn’t feel great, I could still swim great."

With a renewed confidence, Lascara had an even better second day at the championship. The morning trial heats saw him record the fastest time –– by nearly four seconds –– in the 400 IM, then he bettered that effort at night in winning the championship final by 4.6 seconds. Additionally, his clocking of 3:53.90 ranked fifth at Navy.

Lascara’s final day of the championship was a little bit different than his other days due to the fact that he was entered in the 1650 freestyle. Because of the amount of effort it takes to swim the event, there are no trial heats for it. Swimmers are slotted into different heats based upon times they have recorded prior to the championship, with the fastest swimmers being the only ones to compete in the event at night.

Lascara would post a time of 15:40.69, the best of the field entering the night session, but with the faster swimmers still to compete he had no idea how it would hold up.

As it turns out, the fastest swimmer of the evening was teammate Will Norton. Lascara sat in the stands eyeing the split times that he had posted a few hours early and that Norton was now putting forth. They were eerily similar as neither swimmer "held a lead" over the other of more than one second during the majority of the race. In the end, Lascara bettered Norton by just under one second to pick up his third individual title –– to go along with a win as part of Navy’s 800 freestyle relay team –– of the championship. His performance also helped Navy win the team title at the championship.

"It was his approach and drive, especially in practice, that led James to have a special performance at the 2009 ECAC Championship," said Roberts. "He created that performance himself through his daily efforts."

With his days on The Yard and the number of laps he has left to swim in the Lejeune Hall pool dwindling, Lascara has high expectations for both himself and his teammates this year.

"Besides us having success against Army (Dec. 10 in Lejeune Hall) and at the Patriot League (Feb. 18-20 in Lejeune Hall) and ECAC Championship Meets, I’d like to see myself as an individual and us as a team record more NCAA qualifying times," said Lascara. "The ‘A’ cuts are fast, again, but I’d like to see us get some more and higher ‘B’ cut times. We sent two swimmers to the NCAA Championship last year, but I think we can send more this year.

"I also want to help the younger swimmers through my own experiences here. Help them accelerate the development process that I went through. Instead of hearing guys say, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ I want to tell them, ‘We’re going to push you to see what you can do and, in the end, I bet you can do it.’"

Lascara is similarly driven away from the Lejeune Hall pool. An ocean engineering major he has been named to the Superintendent’s List four times, to the Dean’s List once and to the Commandant’s List in each of his six completed semesters at Navy. A combination of his grades and his attaining an NCAA ‘B’ cut qualifying time earned him Honorable Mention All-Scholar-Athlete recognition last year from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America, and he is a three-time member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

As for preparing for life after the Naval Academy, Lascara is awaiting word on whether or not he will be selected to become a Navy SEAL.

"I initially wanted to become a SEAL because of the challenge," said Lascara. "But then I was attached to a SEAL Team over the summer and saw that I was interested in joining that community for a lot more. The mission was something that appealed to me. From what I observed, I feel like being an officer in the Teams is a gauntlet of leadership. The aptitude of the enlisted personnel is so high. As an officer, you know that you are going to have to completely listen to and trust your subordinates in order to do your job while also leading from the front. I definitely feel I have been prepared for that by being a member of the Navy swimming team."

Those qualities also are evident to those around him and is what others feel will lead Lascara to have a successful naval career.

"James is always willing to put aside his personal needs to help out his friends," said Komadina. "He inspires those around him to perform better every day. The team would not be the same without his daily presence. As an officer, I know he will inspire those who work with him. He has never met a challenge he cannot conquer and I know this is something that will make him a great leader when he graduates."

"James as a friend has been able to keep myself, and others, in line to make sure they are putting their best efforts into everything they do," said Curran. "He is always looking out for the team to make sure that we are living up to the Navy men’s swimming team standard of excellence, hard work and winning.

"As long as James is able to maintain his ability to work as hard as he can in everything that he does, I see him as being one of the best future naval officers that the Naval Academy has to offer."