After missing the WPIAL qualifying time by .3 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle relay in his first high school year of swimming, junior Tarik Usanovic wanted to work harder.
“I got a personal best at the time in my split,” Usanovic said, referring to that race last season. “It really served as a moment to get me to push myself even harder to try and make it this year.”
That hard work is paying off this year, as Usanovic hit the WPIAL qualifier time for the 50-meter freestyle race on Thursday in a meet against Gateway. So far, he has qualified for the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle and is a part of the qualifying 200-meter freestyle relay team.
“I was just really surprised and excited because I spent the whole season chasing that goal, and I finally achieved it,” Usanovic said. “I was able to persevere for the qualifying time because I knew I had my teammates, coaches, friends, and family who believed I could do it.”
The season has gone well, not just for Usanovic, but for the whole swim team as well, he said.
“We’ve won more meets than we have lost and beat a team in our section that we lost to last year,” he said. “I’ve already dropped my times significantly and am a lot faster than I was at the end of last season.”
Usanovic began swimming when he was 6 years old, as his parents wanted him to learn. He joined a swimming team, quit a few times, and ultimately decided to rejoin Baldwin’s team last year.
“When I started again last year, the thing that motivated me most was trying to just be the absolute best I can in something,” he said.
Sophomore Matteo Cuenca met Usanovic in seventh grade, and they have built a friendship through swimming.
“We were the two fastest swimmers on the middle school team, but he was extraordinarily fast, and he was the power behind our entire team,” Cuenca said. “We sat together on the school van going to meets, playing Roblox.”
Usanovic has motivated Cuenca throughout this season.
“He’s given me a lot of words of encouragement during hard times,” Cuenca said. “Every single meet, he tries his best to hype me up. The whole team really looks up to him, and he gets along with everyone.”
Senior Katie Gruendler said Usanovic has helped her as well.
“He’s made me a better swimmer because he is very aware of what is going on around him and can tell me exactly what I need to work on to get faster,” she said.
He has had an effect on the entire team, Gruendler said.
“He has impacted the team by being a dedicated member and someone you can always count on to get some points in meets and be at practice,” she said.
Cuenca agreed.
“Our coaches are proud of him, and we all cheer for him as loud as we can every time he dives into the water during a race,” he said.
Gruendler met Usanovic in her eighth-grade year.
“Tarik is a really dedicated and knowledgeable swimmer. He’s always doing his best and giving his all at every practice and in every race, and he knows exactly what he needs to work on and focuses on that when he is racing,” Gruendler said. “He also knows a lot about the sport in general and how other people in the WPIAL are doing.”
