Remember the summers when you were a little kid and you had to ride your bike to go to swimming lessons or swim practice?
Then as you got older, you got a summer job, and the only time you would be at the pool was to drop off your little sister.
Learning how to swim was nothing more than a step in most of our childhoods, but for Megan Capellupo it was a step toward bigger things.
As a little kid growing up, Capellupo and had no real desire to start swimming.
“I actually joined a summer league with my friends. All our parents were friends and all their kids were swimming, so my mom made me. The coach there told me to start swimming year round,” Capellupo said.
So what started off as just a summer activity, turned into a year-round commitment.
Before long, Capellupo was swimming on club teams and traveling almost every weekend and those easy summer practices were long gone.
When Capellupo entered high school at Nerinx Hall, she had no idea she would leave a state champion and a school record holder. However, over her high school career, she earned two letters in swimming, as well as team MVP and all Metro honors her senior year.
“Two of my biggest accomplishments have been making junior nationals and winning state [first place in Missouri] in 100 breaststroke,” Capellupo said.
These feats, along with her five school records, earned her scholarships to Villanova, Missouri and SLU. But Capellupo knew she wanted to come here from the first day that she set foot on the Saint Louis University campus.
“I chose SLU for one reason, academics. I liked the environment because they weren’t all about swimming here. This way I wouldn’t get burnt out, and there would be more opportunities than just swimming,” Capellupo said.
Since arriving at SLU last fall, Capellupo has already done more than most swimmers do in four years. Last season she set four individual school records and was part of two relays that set school records.
In addition to setting records, the international business major, never lost a breaststroke race in a dual meet all year and never finished lower than third in a dual meet all season.
If these achievements aren’t enough, Capellupo started this season right where she left off last season, and she’s getting a lot of help from her coach and her team.
“We are doing awesome so far this season, and we are undefeated. We just want to show people that we are a lot better than last year. And a lot of that has to do with our coach–he’s really building up the team,” Capallupo said.
While last year’s women’s swim team did not win a dual meet, this year’s team has not only won a meet, but they are a 4-0. And if the team’s and Capellupo’s success continue, she knows doors will continue to open.
“Through swimming I’ve met a lot of people and gained a lot of opportunities. I’ve been able to go a lot of different places, and I’ve received a lot of recognition that I wouldn’t have received if I didn’t swim,” Capellupo said.
If Capellupo keeps it up, she is just going to gain more recognition here at SLU, which isn’t bad for a girl who never even wanted to get into the water the water in the first place.
