When 14 year old Ava Addotta climbed out of the Atlantic Ocean last month after her one mile ocean swim in the Andy Rooney Swim Meet, there was applause, happiness and a sense of pride. After all , the 14 year old Middletown High School student finished first among the females who competed in the meet. Miss Amy
But her pride and emotion ran even higher when she was presented with the Amy Lynn Gill trophy for her accomplishment in a meet that drew 103 competitors in male and female divisions…..the award was named in honor of her friend and swim coach, Amy Lynn Gill, also a neighbor in the Navesink section of Middletown where both the Gills and the Addottas live.
But it was almost too much to describe when the presentation was made by Gill’s daughter, Hayden, Ava’s close friend and fellow swimmer in this and other races.
Amy Lynn, who died Jan. 31, was not only a Special Education teacher in the Hazlet school system but also a swim coach for both Hayden and Ava, together with many other swimmers, and an avid supporter of the NJRC Swim Club where all her swimmers belong. Her relationship with her daughter Hayden’s friend was so close she wasn’t just a teacher, not just her friend’s mom…she was Miss Amy to a young woman who loved and respected her for so many different reasons.
For Ava, last week’s Andy Rooney Swim Meet is the second time she had competed in this annual event . But she has competed in many other meets, both in the ocean and in the pool during the years since she first learned to swim.
The daughter of Neil and Christi Addotta, Ava spoke about the Meet following her win and a celebration that afternoon at the Proving Ground in Highlands, where funds were raised for the Amy Gill Scholarship Award for a graduating senior and swimmer from Raritan High School.
The water temperature was probably in the 60s, and was “very cold,” during the mile swim, the mature young woman said. But if anything, the low temperatures made her swim even faster. “I just wanted to get out,” she said.
Swimming since she was eight years old, Ava said of the several sports in which she competes, it is her favorite because being in the water helps her relieve stress. Asked what type of stress a 14 year old faces, the swimmer said any variety of things, “like if I’m having a bad day at school or something like that. “ Enjoying both ocean and pool swims, she is partial to the breast stroke,, which is what she used in Saturday’s meet. Although loving the water from the first she first went in at three years of age, Ava said she learned swimming first at the Seashore Day Camp. “Miss Amy,” was always special to her, she said, and her latest victory, armed with the Amy Lynn Gill award, is especially meaningful because she feels she did it for her.
Ava was not only happy to be in the meet, but even more happy that so many of her and Hayden’s friends also competed; for them, it was one more opportunity for all of the swimmers to enjoy their own friendship. She and Hayden live close enough they visit each other and often “hang out on the beach.”
The day of the interview, Ava and Hayden had just returned from Sandy Hook, where they had gone with their surfboards. “But there wasn’t enough surf, so we just hung out on the beach,” she explained. When she’s not in the water, Ava is also a member of a lacrosse team where she plays midfield.
But this coming weekend? There will always be the memory of receiving the Amy Lynn Gill Award and having it presented to her by Miss Amy’s daughter, and her friend Hayden. Armed with those memories, the champion swimmer will be back in the water for another swim meet …
