Oswego State swimming standout Sabia Filiaci is in her final season. One of the greats to come through the program, and as her teammates say the “perfect teammate,” she has one last year to accomplish her goals, one more year of early morning swims, double practices and then its is all over.

Filiaci has been on the swim team since her freshman year. She has helped the team tremendously since she started. A hard worker, her striving to always be the best is what makes Filiaci special.

As soon as Filiaci came to Oswego State, she made a huge impact in her first year, was the team’s best 100 meter butterfly swimmer. She placed 10th at the SUNYAC Championships in the 100 butterfly and helped the 200 and 400 medley relays finish fifth and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays finish sixth at the SUNYAC Championships.

After an amazing start to her career the sky was the limit, there was so much potential.

“After her first year we knew she was going to be great for a while, unlimited potential,” head coach Mike Holman said.

With such a good start, she knew she had to work harder to become better and build off an impressive first year.

“I knew I had to continue to work hard in the offseason, if I was going to continue to grow,” Filiaci said.

That is exactly what she did. She grew and had an incredible sophomore year. She was swimming in more events, becoming one of the best.

She finished sixth in the 100 butterfly, 22nd in the 50 freestyle, 23rd in the 100 freestyle and helped the 200 freestyle relay team to a seventh-place finish at the SUNYAC Championships.

With a great finish to her second season, people realized she was one of the best.

With two seasons to go, it was going to be hard to top.

“I just want to see her do the best she can, she’s a great swimmer and more importantly a great leader,” Holman said.

Filiaci was in a comfort zone, becoming a veteran now finally settling down.

“I’m a lot more open, I was being myself, I was having fun,” Filiaci said.

As her anticipated junior season came around, she proved again why she was one of the best.

“My times decreased every year and I was getting better,” Filiaci said.

She finished 4th in the 100 butterfly, 9th in the 200 butterfly, 13th in the 50 freestyle and 7th in the 200 freestyle relay.

With a great finish to her junior year, and even more improvement her ceiling remains high, and she is still trying to become the best.

“Everyday I come to practice trying to get better, always striving to be the best,” Filiaci said.

Her hard work and commitment does not go unseen.

“She’s one of the hardest working girls in the pool, a great leader on this team, a great role model,” Holman said.

Filiaci is one of the team captains and with that she carries a lot of responsibilities. The freshmen look up to her. She’s the leader and they strive to be like her.

“She’s so nice and so good, very humble, always looking out for her team and wanting us to be good,” said freshman Natalie Brophy. “She cares more about us it seems than herself. She’s the perfect captain.”

Humble describes Filiaci well as she never brags about her dominance in the pool. She realizes she’s one of the best, but is always looking out for the rest of her team. Her vision is always bigger. She is never satisfied and continuously striving to be better.

“She always wants to be better, always works hard at lifts, practices, to try to reach her goals she sets for herself,” senior Kat McKinney said.

It’s hard to find athletes like Filiaci who care about their team more than themselves.

“All the girls love her, they all get along great,” Holman said. “I think they all look up to her mostly because of her work ethic, and how she bought into the tradition, and became one of the best on the team through hard work and commitment.”

As her senior season starts, many ask what’s next for the star swimmer.

“As long as she’s happy, I’m happy,” Holman said. “I just want to see her season end in a bang.”

“I want to break the school record and win a SUNYAC title,” Filiaci said.

The senior has high expectations for herself this year. She has one last chance to swim into the Oswego State record book and be remembered as one of the all-time greats.

She’s had one goal since she came to Oswego State as a freshman and has one last season to achieve that goal: senior swimming standout Sabia Filiaci hopes to win a SUNYAC championship in her last collegiate season.