'She's fun. She's very serious sometimes, though.': Seabreeze building under swim coach Sam Fabulich
PORT ORANGE — Sam Fabulich tries not to regale her Seabreeze swimmers with tales of her days as a Sandcrab.
She won a state championship as a junior in high school before heading off to Florida State where she earned multiple Atlantic Coast Conference titles.
But sometimes, her swimmers force her hand.
“Actually, they were just talking about my records because they’re all about breaking records and all that right now,” Fabulich said. “I still have the Seabreeze one for breaststroke. I always say, ‘If someone can beat me, then we’ll (take off practice) for this.’ It makes it fun, but it makes it real for them.”
“I am going for it!” freshman Lexie O’Keefe said as a few teammates giggled around her.
Fabulich is in her second season of her second stint as the Sandcrabs’ head coach. She spent two years tutoring them after graduating from college, and following a two-decade break, returned in 2022.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Which Volusia-Flagler players earned game balls in Week 4?
Last season, the Seabreeze boys claimed a district crown while the girls finished as a close second behind the Villages. Both squads ranked in the top seven at regionals and the top 28 at the 2A state meet.
More than half a dozen Sandcrabs qualified for the big event. This year, Fabulich wants to double that as her young team from 2022 matures behind 14 seniors.
She already has watched her roster grow from 30-something swimmers last fall to its current total of about 50.
“It’s definitely more competitive than last year, but I think that the overall vibe is similar,” sophomore Adelynn Smurdon said.
It’s a positive energy. Seabreeze wants to have fun. But the Sandcrabs are also competitive.
Like their coach.
“(Fabulich) is fun to swim for,” said junior Cole Conlan, who transferred from New Smyrna Beach. “She knows a lot. She went to FSU. She’s fun. She’s very serious sometimes, though.”
Fabulich said: “I let them know when I need them to turn it on.”
“Then, we start going at it,” Conlan said.
That moment arrived around the 200 freestyle relays, a little more than halfway through the Record Breaker Invitational last Saturday. The Sandcrabs followed instructions, flipping the switch and placing second in a meet featuring some of Volusia County’s top teams.
The Record Breaker and the Five Star Conference get-together in October serve as gauges of where Fabulich’s group stands.
“We want to win districts again,” Fabulich said. “That’s my biggest thing. Then, I want to have the biggest team we’ve had represented at states.”
Some broken records along the way would be nice, too.
NASCAR: Sherry Pollex passes, NASCAR, Truex Jr. mourn; 'her legacy will live well beyond our lifetimes'
Record Breaker Invitational results
Spruce Creek hosted the Record Breaker Invitational last Saturday at the Port Orange YMCA. Six teams from the Volusia-Flagler area competed, including the top two.
Here are the standings based on combined scores:
DeLand — 754.5
Seabreeze — 647
Olympia — 554.5
Spruce Creek — 537.5
Titusville — 498.5
Father Lopez — 414
New Smyrna Beach — 247
Paxon — 147
University — 100
Calvary Chapel — 71
Brevard Heat — 59
DeLand finished with the highest score of any boys team. Spruce Creek topped the girls’ leaderboard.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school swimming: Seabreeze growing in 2nd year under Sam Fabulich
