Plum native Peyton Kondis puts swimming career behind her

When the NCAA Division I swimming championships were canceled March 12 because of the coronavirus, Plum resident Peyton Kondis began to turn her attention and preparation to wrapping up her competition career in late June at the U.S. Olympic swim trials in Omaha, Neb.

But for the Oakland Catholic graduate and University of Houston senior, her dream of competing on one of the biggest stages in the sport were dashed as USA Swimming postponed the trials April 10, shortly after the International Olympic Committee moved the Tokyo Games to 2021.

Kondis, a multiple-time NCAA nationals qualifier who had punched her ticket to the trials in the 100- and 200-meter long course breaststrokes, instead will turn her attention to education.

“I was expecting my swimming career to come to an end at the end of June anyway, but it came early,” said Kondis, who will begin graduate school in the fall at Pitt, Chatham or Duquesne.

She said going for her master’s degree in mental health counseling and pursuing a job will prevent her from having enough time to train for next year’s trials set for June 13-20.

“I will be moving back home and entering a new phase of my life where education will be at a higher level,” Kondis said. “It just makes sense to move on and close the swimming chapter.

“I did have a great collegiate career that I am really proud of with making so many great memories and friendships. Growing up, I had goals of swimming at the Division I level and making the Olympic trials, and I accomplished both. It was a bittersweet ending, but it ended where I am still satisfied with my career as a whole.”

More than 1,200 swimmers, including several from the Pittsburgh area, already had met the qualifying standards to swim at the trials when the event was postponed. Additional qualifying marks were expected to be recorded this spring.

Now, with the new trials date more than a year away, numerous other swimmers are expected to stop competing for various reasons. USA Swimming also is working on the structure of the qualifying process moving forward, including time standards and qualifying periods.

It’s unclear when the eligible competitors can safely return to the pool for training and qualifying meets.

Highlands graduate Bailey Bonnett, who swam her junior season this winter at Kentucky and also qualified for multiple events at the NCAA championships, and Fox Chapel sophomore Zoe Skirboll are entrenched on the trials qualifying lists. They said they are looking forward to continuing preparation and will travel to Omaha in 14 months.

Bonnett also qualified for and competed at the 2016 Olympic trials in the 400 IM and 200 breast.

“I was a little upset that (the 2020 trials) was postponed because I was really excited for it, but I still have another whole year to mentally and physically prepare,” said Bonnett, who is slated to compete in the 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 individual medley and 400 IM.

“I’ve been swimming my whole life. What is two or three more months (after college) to be ready for the trials? I think it will be fun for trials to be one of my last meets.”

Bonnett will have one more year at Kentucky and one more chance to swim at the NCAA championships. This past year would’ve been her third trip to nationals in as many seasons.

Skirboll, a WPIAL and PIAA champion as a freshman in 2019, didn’t swim for the Foxes this past season as she ramped up her trials training.

“When I first heard the trials were postponed, I was a little upset because I had been training hard and doing all the things necessary to be ready,” said Skirboll, who owns trials qualifying times in the 50 freestyle and 100 breast and hopes to add one or two more before next year.

“It was something I had been looking forward to for a long time, and I was really excited. But we have a whole other year to train, get faster and get better. That’s not a bad thing.”

Skirboll, a member of the Racer-X club team, said she didn’t compete in high school swimming because she felt it was unfair to the rest of the team to sign up for that commitment and then miss the amount of days she expected to miss.

Skirboll said she’s not sure if she will return to high school swimming next season.