By Hunter Alba
A 17-year-old student at Ponte Vedra High School by the name of Penny Zarczynski is making waves with her impressive swimming skills. However, while many teens are spending their time developing one specific skill, Penny is not only talented at swimming, but she is also gifted in the art of knitting. This allows her to explore arts that most never even think about.
Penny, a senior at Ponte Vedra High School, is dominant in the water. She began her swimming career in the fourth grade. Although swimming can take up a generous amount of time, it is important to have a healthy balance with school. Penny stated, “I try to get as much schoolwork done during the school day and on weekends to avoid staying up late and finishing homework,” Penny excels in the 100-meter freestyle and butterfly. For the 100-meter freestyle Penny is ranked fourth in Florida with a time of 57.73 seconds. And in the 100-meter butterfly she is ranked second in Florida with a time of 59.93 seconds. These times put her in the top percentile of her age. In the beginning of her junior year Penny committed to Yale university. Although she has already secured her future in the Ivy League, she still must work through long practices to make sure she finds success in college. Penny stated “The hardest thing about swimming is the practices and balancing the amount of time spent at practice with the rest of my life,” the tiring practices now may seem like a never-ending sacrifice, but the continuous practices show how perseverance leads to further success
“The hardest thing about swimming is the practices and balancing the amount of time spent at practice with the rest of my life.”
Penny zarczynski (12)
Outside the lanes of the pool Penny discovered a unique passion: knitting. Knitting is the process of using long needles to interlink or knot a series of loops made by one continuous thread. It can be a very time-consuming activity with most projects taking a minimum of 10 hours per item. The lengthy knitting process along with swimming, along with school can make for a crowded schedule. Penny first picked up the practice of knitting from her grandmother. She started knitting when she was in the seventh grade. To balance knitting, swimming, and school is a challenging task. It is hard to find time to knit because of her conflicting schedules. However, Penny stated, “I try to knit something once a month.” Her most knitted items are hats which usually take around 10 hours to knit.
It is a difficult process to Transition from the pool to the classroom, from swimming laps to knitting stitches, it is a blend of dedication, creativity, and a desire to make an impact. The differences in the fast-paced swimming practices and the meticulous process of knitting highlight a sharp contrast that shows finding time to do what makes you happy is the most important of all.
Pictured: Penny Zarczynski’s (12) completed knitting projects
