Season Interrupted: Sophie Wazzan gets accustomed to life outside the pool
Throughout the spring, The Times will interview high school seniors whose athletic careers were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
Name: Sophie Wazzan
School: Los Angeles Marymount
Sport: Water polo/swimming
Key stats: Had 85 goals and 286 steals in water polo; competed in the 500 and 200 freestyle in swimming
Fall plans: Will attend Indiana
A look at the high school sport standouts whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.
On the sudden end to the swimming season:
“We were looking to break some records. ... This has been the longest I’ve been out of the water since I was 10. I’m still not used to it.”
On life without sports:
“There’s a lot of free time that I’ve never had before. It’s really interesting to see what I’ve been coming up with to try to keep entertained. I’ve never had anything like this in my life.”
On the new things she’s discovered in her free time:
“I’ve been baking a lot, everything from cookies to cakes.”
Her specialty:
“Coffee cake. It’s pretty good.”
On training without a regular pool:
“We have dry-land workouts from my coach. We bought a swim tether that we tie to a tree and swim stationary in the pool.”
Santa Margarita’s Josette Odgers finds solace in winning two state swimming titles before the coronavirus shutdown: ‘We made the best of the times we had.’
On her swimming start:
“I started swimming when I was 10 because my mom said that I had to pick a sport. She said I could pick anything but swimming, so I started swimming.”
On the lessons she’s learned:
“It’s made me think a lot more and reflect more on myself and what I do and how I live my life.”
Where she sees herself in 10 years:
“I see myself working at an economic consulting firm.”
Video interviews of each athlete can be found at latimes.com/sports/highschool.
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