Special Sets: At Eagle Aquatics, Penelope Lopez-Casula is Latest Rising Star for Coach Adam Madarassy
Adam Madarassy, a 2008 Olympian for Hungary and NCAA scorer for the University of Louisville, has since shown his chops as a swim coach. He is owner, founder and head coach at Eagle Aquatics in Miami, Fla. Two of his latest prodigies, Kaii Winkler and Erika Pelaez, are Olympic Trials semifinalists and swimmers for the North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Courtesy: Carolina Milano
At Eagle, he has another rising star in Penelope Lopez-Casula. Just 13, the 6-1 Lopez-Casula is best known for her sprint speed, especially in freestyle. In July at USA Swimming’s Futures meet in Austin, Texas, she placed fourth in the 50 meter free (26.11), improving upon her first Futures cut in March, when her 26.42 earned her an eighth-place finish at the TYR 18 & Under Spring Cup.
Prior to that, she decimated the competition at the winter and age group championships, taking first in 14 events and setting Florida Gulf Coast records in the 100 (50.60), 200 (1:50.87) and 500 yard freestyles (5:03.51). At Eagle, she holds 16 team records.
Madarassy has been working with Lopez-Casula since she was 9 years old. A year later, she posted two nation-leading times for 11-year-olds of 23.61 and 51.84 in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles. And she didn’t stop there, compiling a resume that heralds a burgeoning aquatic star. Following is a capsule of her accomplishments as recorded in USA Swimming’s All-Time Top 100 swims:
Madarassy says Lopez-Casula “is a super-motivated and hard-working athlete who is always willing to do whatever it takes to get better and closer to her goals. She is also a super-nice, good-hearted person and an outstanding teammate who motivates others by being an encouraging and positive role model. She hates missing practices even if the reason is sickness,” he says.
The workouts Madarassy gives Lopez-Casula are centered on quality and speed with endurance sets mixed in. Here are some sample SCY sets:
Penelope took an extra minute between free and IM rounds
Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” is in its third printing, and is available from store.Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.