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SPORTS

Senior swimmer living the dream

Hungarian native focused on success after life in the pool

by LOURDES CASTILLO
The Daily Cougar

Senior Szintia Szanto always had a dream: to come to the United States. 

The Budapest, Hungary, native is still living her dream thanks to her splashing swimming abilities.

Szanto, the current UH swimming captain, remembers watching American movies and TV shows and picturing what life would be like in the U.S. 

"It’s completely different," Szanto said. "I had this dream to come study here and when I actually made it, it was such a big deal. I was so happy."

Szanto’s life wasn’t always that happy, especially her first year in Houston.

"My first year (it) was really hard to have all of my friends and family back home," Szanto said. "It was a really big change for me, but I think I grew as a person with not having all of them here. I learned to stand on my own two feet and keep swimming.

"I kept talking to them on the phone and they always told me, ‘This is your dream, you’ll be fine.' I had to remind myself that this is what I wanted and why I wanted to come to the U.S."

She could have attended other schools like Ohio State, Texas A&M, Miami and Louisville where she knew other Hungarian swimmers, but she needed a fresh start in her career. 

"I actually wanted to get away from them … I wanted to start over," Szanto said. "I was at a point where I needed to get out of my country, swimming wise, and this was the perfect place for that."

The 21-year-old was amazed by the swimming facilities at UH, but it was the interest head coach Mark Taylor showed in her abilities that really convinced her to attend the University.

"He actually saw me swimming and started recruiting me years before," Szanto said. "All of the other schools that were offering me scholarships never saw me swim or talked to me in person. I felt like the other schools didn’t care. He cared so much. He called me every week."

However, she wasn’t too amazed by the fact the U.S. was so different from her hometown.

"What I don’t like about (the U.S.) is that you can’t walk around," she said. "Europe is so different that you can walk around. Here everything is so far and I don’t have a car so obviously I’m screwed here. What I like (about the U.S.) is chocolate chip cookies and free refills on drinks."

Szanto has spent 16 years of her life swimming. It’s that dedication that has allowed her to succeed at events like the 1999 European Youth Olympic Games in Denmark. As a 14-year-old, she earned second place in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke competitions.

"I would say that was the meet of my life," Szanto said. "It’s all kinds of different sports and you travel as a team representing your country. It is just like the Olympics but smaller. I had the time of my life. 

"I swam really good. It was such a great feeling. I never made it to the Olympics, but that was my Olympics."

In addition to her success in swimming, Szanto also excels in academics. She realizes the importance of education and how hard it is being a student as well as an athlete.

"It is so incredibly hard for us to get up every morning, go to school, then go to practice again, then go to study, then your day is over and you start again," she said. "When people get to college there is a lot of temptations and it’s (often best) to say no to going out to get a drink; it’s to say no to staying up all night because you have to know that you are an athlete and this is what you have to do. 

"Some people understand that and some people don’t. That will determine who is your friend because you can’t stay up all night, you have to say no to going out and that is tough."

Although Szanto didn’t care for swimming in the beginning, she was persistent and learned to love the sport. 

"I hated it at the beginning because it was cold in the water, and I would scream but my mom would not take me out," Szanto said. "I always decided to stick with it and it is something that you have to go to practice, and it’s not easy.

"If you stick with it and you put your mind, your heart, body and soul into it, that’s the only way to do it. You can’t do it halfway. It’s either swimming or it’s not swimming."

Something else Szanto puts her mind and heart into is advertising. She hopes to receive her degree in advertising in December 2007. 

"I want to be a creative director or an advertising director," she said. "I’m probably going to start as a copywriter because my graphic skills are not that good to do graphic design. I’m interested in both sides of advertising. 

"(I want) to get a job that I like, (that’s) challenging and that I’m good at. I never had a real job so that’s my goal. If I didn’t have a job that was challenging I would get bored. That’s why I like advertising ­ because it is challenging from the first moment to the last."

Her life after swimming and being a Cougar will depend on various things. Szanto wants to move to New York, but also go visit her family.

"I want to go home because I really miss it, but the dream of mine is to go to New York," she said. "If I get a job (offering) that I really couldn’t turn down then I would probably stay here and try living here. If it doesn’t work out I can always go home, but if I go home I don’t want to regret anything."

Szanto wants to stop swimming, but is also considering doing it one more season if she feels like she can be successful.

"It’s so hard to imagine my life after this season because I’ve been swimming since I was five," Szanto said. "I never had a life without swimming. I don’t have to make a decision now. I’ll see how my season goes. 

"My goals are changing. I have to force myself to that because I can’t swim forever. Swimming can only take you so far. That’s something that my family always made sure I knew. Studying was always important and to know that there was something after swimming. Now I have to make use of that to see what is after swimming."