Four years came and went, and Ryan Boraski has reason to be proud, according to his coach.
The senior swam in his last meet as a Keene State College (KSC) Owl over spring break, and earned All-American Honors for the seventh, eighth and ninth times in his career.
Boraski competed in the 2017 NCAA Division III National Championship meet in Shenandoah, Texas.
Boraski said he was trying to stay optimistic going into the meet, even though it was potentially one of the biggest of his career.
“I was feeling really good and really positive. A lot of confidence, so that definitely helped me out,” Boraski said.
Swimming and diving Head Coach Chris Woolridge said Boraski’s work ethic has played a huge factor in his success as an Owl. Woolridge said that when Boraski came in as a first-year, he wasn’t standing out, but he knew what he had to do.
“He made the commitment, he worked year-round, he made it a priority, sometimes at the cost of probably some friendship and some social inclusion,” Woolridge said.
“He did everything he could to make sure that this piece of what he was doing came out well.”
Woolridge also said, “He’s come a long way, due mainly to his dedication and his effort.”
Boraski’s work certainly shows in his results.
In the morning preliminary at the National Championship, Boraski broke a Keene State College record, held by him, swimming the 100 freestyle in 43.65 seconds.
Later on in the championship round, Boraski re-broke the same record from earlier in the day, swimming the event in 43.43 seconds. Boraski’s record-breaking swim earned him second place in the event, only trailing the winner by .15 seconds.
While Boraski may have been happy with the time, he wasn’t personally thrilled with his position.
“I’m definitely disappointed in getting second, you know, I didn’t come there for second,” Boraski said.
“I have an attitude of, either you win or you lose. So I’m a loser, I lost.”
Woolridge said that while Boraski’s placing may not have been what he was personally working for, there was no disappointment from a coach’s perspective.
“I don’t feel like he had let anybody down with his performance’s,” Woolridge said. “I don’t think you can look at the body of work and feel like you left much on the table.”
Woolridge also had high praise for Boraski, who knows that there won’t be a “next meet.”
“His career exemplifies everything that we’re looking for in somebody that comes in, whether they achieve the success at the level that he has or not,” Woolridge said.
While Boraski has competed in his final meet for KSC, he will still be swimming for his club team out of Medfield, Massachusetts, and he is excited for that.
“That was it, that was my last college meet, but there’s still more things to come, and that’s exciting,” Boraski said.
Crae Messer can be contacted at cmesser@kscequinox.com