Bossio brothers help lead the Notre Dame swim team

By Rich Fisher

When Gavin Bossio was a young diver for PASDA’s now-defunct Ravine swim team, big brother Owen was a swimmer on the same squad. During one meet, Ravine was short a swimmer on one of their relay teams.

“As a joke, we put my brother in,” Owen recalled. “That was his first ever really competitive experience. He tried his best, but it was a rough watch. But he gave it all the effort he could give. It was fun in the end.”

Actually, Owen didn’t find it to be all that much fun. “I had no clue what I was doing,” he said. “I just knew I had to go from one end to the other and that was my first introduction to competitive swimming.”

He agreed with Owen that it was a “rough watch.”

“Definitely,” he said. “I finished the race and I was crying and everything.”

What sounds like a sad story actually has a happy ending. Flash forward to the present, and the Bossio brothers from Ewing are two of the top swimmers on a Notre Dame High swim team that was 9-1 as of Jan. 19.

Despite Gavin’s unfortunate debut, it coerced him to give up diving and begin swimming competitively. Rather than wade into the pool and start with a low-pressure team like Ravine, he went immediately to the high level Eastern Express club team.

“Going into the Express I wasn’t thinking of myself as a swimmer yet,” Gavin said. “It was definitely nerve wracking, I was nervous. But I knew how Owen had come along in Express, so I had high hopes for myself.”

Owen went to the Express from Ravine. His dad, Joe, suggested the 10-year-old start competitive swimming after losing to his son in the pool a few times.

“We would always mess around, have fun in the pool and one day my dad said ‘I’m not outswimming you anymore, you should try competitive swimming,” Owen said. “My dad said I hopped right in, I loved it. It was so much fun. I felt that I could do anything with the sport.”

His confidence carried into Notre Dame, where he became a mainstay in the lineup as a freshman.

“Knowing the success that Notre Dame had before I got there, I was definitely nervous,” Owen said. “I thought I would be a second-string type of guy, not really in the middle of the race. But I walked in and realized I could really go at it and take a starting spot early on. It did surprise me, but once I saw the opening I went right after it and worked my butt off to get there.”

Bossio didn’t have a set race that first year, as he swam five different individual events and all three relays. He produced in every one, claiming first in six individual races. A year later, Owen became mainly a breaststroker and also did the IM, back, fly and 200 free. He won four times, took eight seconds and four thirds.

It was around that time that swimming began taking its toll, as Owen was starting to feel the symptoms of burnout. He enjoyed the Notre Dame experience and did not want to give that up, but left Eastern Express for the lower level Lawrence Swim Association “to just really have fun in the sport.”

“I took advantage of trying to focus on mental health and just trying to branch out from swimming,” he said. “Often with high school and club it’s so serious and it’s often about work and putting in all these hours in the pool. In the summer swim, I could break away, have fun and still perform at an OK level but enjoy it.”

It was a necessary move; for without it, Bossio may have given up the sport.

“I was approaching this area where the entire day I would dread swim practice (with the Express),” he said. “The love for

FAMILY DENTISTRY • IMPLANTS • ORTHODONTICS

We are here in a safe and clean environment for your Emergency Dental Needs! Call 609-454-6500 Stay Safe and Healthy the sport was kind of disappearing. If I kept on swimming and kept that grind up for both teams, I don’t know if I would be able to enjoy Notre Dame and enjoy the team as much and the sport as much.

“I took the time to reset, get my mind straight, try to find the love of the sport again, and luckily I did. I think this is the most enjoyable year I’ve ever enjoyed in swimming. Even though it’s not my best statistical year, I’m still having an absolutely amazing time with the team.”

Gavin said that “everybody noticed,” his brother’s growing disinterest in swimming, but added that, “He started dropping times again last year, especially at MCTs (Mercer County Meet). Everybody was happy for him. He got out of the pool after one breast, and had his head in his hands crying he was so happy. It was definitely a great thing to see for everybody.”

It was equally great for Gavin to have Owen on the team when he arrived at Notre Dame last year.

“Having an older brother definitely helped me get introduced to some of the team; so it wasn’t as nerve wracking when I joined,” Gavin said. “He knew everything; helped me with the experiences. It was nice having a little guide the first year.”

The brothers are extremely close, with the bond heightening as they became high school teammates.

“Gavin’s my best friend, I love him from the moon and back,” Owen said. “We absolutely push one another. There’s been a lot of times where Gavin has beaten me in a certain race or beaten my best time. I thought to myself, ‘It’s time to get this big brother thing back, I’m big bro, I gotta be good at this stuff.’

When Gavin joined ND last year, the two became a formidable duo. With Gavin doing the breast, fly, 50, 100 and 500 free, 200 IM and all three relays, and Owen swimming the breast, IM, fly, 50, 100 and 200 free and all three relays, the two combined for 41 first-place finishes, 29 seconds and six thirds.

Owen made the Mercer County Championships A cut final in the 50 free, breast and 200 medley relay, and finished first in the relay, fourth in the breast and fifth in the 50. Gavin finished 13th in the fly, just missing the B cut, and finished eighth overall in the 200 IM. He finished second, a mere .03 seconds behind the B cut race winner.

Through the first 10 meets this year; the Bossios have combined to swim in all three relays and every individual event; having teamed up for 40 firsts, 19 seconds and five thirds. Gavin was a top-three finisher in all 29 of his races, touching out at third just twice during that span.

Needless to say, Notre Dame coach Henry DeSandre is grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Bossio for their contributions to his program.

“Owen’s first couple of years his main focus was basically IM and breaststroke,” DeSandre said. “Last year we were able to move toward sprint stuff, particularly the 50 because we had a hole we needed to fill. So he stepped to the plate and did tremendous with it. We can take him in many directions as far as filling in the meet.

“He’s very passionate about Notre Dame swimming. He and James (MacIsaac) both have been strong mens leaders. I can’t say enough about Owen as far as what he brings to the team as a young man.”

Not surprisingly, he has the same motor mouth when it comes to Gavin, who had to recover from a shoulder injury he suffered that kept him out of the pool for two months. He did not return to the Express until June, and had to work himself back slowly so as not to have the shoulder flare up.

“He’s committed to the team, he’s very enthused, he’s very pro-high school swimming,” the coach said. “He’s also a utility person. He can move in many directions for us. Particularly in non-freestyle strokes. He’s another one that executes a great sprint in the 50. It’s not our main line with him, but he does have the quality to be able to step into those shoes when we need him too.”

DeSandre is excited to see how much further Gavin can improve over the next two years. After that the younger brother hopes to continue his career in college.

“I’ve been looking at recruiting, getting my name out there,” he said. “I don’t see that changing. I’ve had the injury bug my entire career and I haven’t quit yet, so I don’t want to let that all go when I go to college. I want to keep that up. Whether it’s Division One, Two, Three, or even JUCO, I’d be happy to swim at any college.”

Owen’s college future looks decidedly different, as he claims this senior season will be his last in competitive swimming.

“I’ve really thought about it a lot over the past year or two,” he said. “I just think it’s better to go to college for an education and plan out the rest of my life. If I loved the sport as much as I did when I was younger I absolutely would swim in college now. But college athletics is kind of like another job, the commitment required to do it is a lot. I personally don’t view that commitment as something that is worth it.”