BE’s Addie Laurencelle is one of state’s top swimmers
If you are a resident of the Lowcountry, there’s a good chance, perhaps a 99.44 percent chance, that either you or someone you know moved here from the North. And the reason for the move, most of the time, includes something to do with the weather.
That includes Addie Laurencelle, whose family moved to Charleston from Boston about two years ago.
Laurencelle, a talented swimmer for Bishop England, recalls life in the Northeast.
“When I lived in Boston, we practiced in the morning,” Laurencelle said. “I ran from the pool to my car after practice, and by the time I got to my car, my hair would be frozen. It was absolutely freezing.”
While many high school students enjoy spring break in a warmer climate, this week Laurencelle was back in Boston, where it snowed on Monday. There was good reason for the return trip. He was in Boston to tour the campus of Brown University and talk to the swimming coach.
Such is life for one of the state’s top swimmers, who is getting interest from many schools, including Alabama, USC, Duke, UConn, Dartmouth and Colgate.
Laurencelle had an ultra-impressive swim season in the fall for Bishop England, winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyle gold medals at the state meet. He was also on the winning 200- and 400-yard freestyle teams.
He recently competed another successful season as a member of the SC Swim Club. Again, he won the 100-yard freestyle at the state championships with a time of 45.99 while finishing third in the 50 free and fourth in the 200 freestyle.
Laurencelle, who is 6-foot-6, is actually a native of Charleston. However, his family moved to Boston when he was a toddler. He competed at the high school level in Beantown and fared well. However, he admits he could have done better.
“When I swam in Massachusetts, I wasn’t into it too much,” Laurencelle said. “Now, it’s my passion.”
He competed in just about every sport his high school offered, including basketball, baseball, lacrosse, hockey and track and field. But he decided to focus on swimming his sophomore year. Then came the move back to Charleston where he made a name for himself in just one season.
Laurencelle is definitely passionate about swimming, and that passion means a lot of work. He swims 7,000 yards a day and as usual, that work comes in the early morning hours.
That hard work should pay dividends for Laurencelle in the form of a scholarship. But the real prize could be a spot on the U.S team for the 2020 Olympics, which will be contested in Tokyo.
“That’s every swimmer’s goal,” Laurencelle said. “If you get there, it’s definitely not by accident. It means you worked your tail off. That is what swimming is all about.”
“It’s all on you,” he added. “It’s all about the work you do, the discipline you learn in the pool. You can take that discipline and transfer it to other areas of your life and be just as successful.”