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Pa. Jewish Teen Readies for Olympic Trials
NATIONAL ADAM REINHERZ I CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ZOE SKIRBOLL, 16, a
Pittsburgh-area high school
junior, knows exactly how long
she felt like a fish out of water:
seven weeks.

The champion swimmer, a
Team USA hopeful who quali-
fied for the upcoming Olympic
trials, had to stop training in
pools due to the pandemic — a
hiatus that made her appreciate
I was 16.”
But Zoe Skirboll knows how
to keep it in proportion.

“I like to sometimes keep
my swimming life separate so I
don’t really get overwhelmed,”
she said. “Swimming can
take a really big toll on your
mental health, especially
during practices. It’s a really
hard sport, and you have to be
mentally tough in it. I feel like
just taking some breaks from
it, like on the weekends, and
just being with my friends and
freestyle in 24.90 seconds.

By her sophomore year, Zoe
Skirboll was training for the
Olympic trials. She remembers
the moment she knew she made
the cut: “That was kind of one
of the biggest goals of my whole
entire swimming career,” she
said. “That was like the best
moment. I mean, I worked for
it. It was the greatest experi-
ence ever.”
Her father couldn’t be more
proud. “It’s just great seeing what
your work and your own
blood does,” he said. “It’s very
special.” Four months remain until
the Olympic trials, but Zoe
Skirboll’s future is filled with
meets and opportunities no
matter what. In August she
verbally committed to the
University of Virginia, a swim
team powerhouse.

Zoe Skirboll is relishing
the chance to swim with the
UVA Cavaliers under coach
Todd DeSorbo, but for now is
focused on more immediate
matters — as is her father.

“I’m sure a lot of dads, if
they coach their kids, they can
relate to it,” Jim Skirboll said.

“The swimming career might
last for me and Zoe maybe
another year or two, then
she’ll go to the University of
Virginia, but the bond we have
will last a lifetime.” l
Adam Reinherz is a staff writer for
the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, an
Exponent-affiliated publication.

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Zoe and Jim Skirboll
swimming in a new way.

“Taking that little break
honestly made me realize how
special the sport was, and how
much it meant to me, and how
big a part it is in my life,” she said.

But the time away from the
water wasn’t exactly a vacation:
Skirboll worked hard on
dry-land exercises to maintain
fitness and develop strength.

Her devotion paid off,
said her coach and father Jim
Skirboll. “It’s remarkable how some
of these kids are handling this
situation,” said Jim Skirboll
of his daughter’s discipline
during the pandemic. “I’m not
sure if I could do that when
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Courtesy of Jim Skirboll
them helping me through, it is
always great.”
Her father, who swam at Ohio
University and heads Racer X
Aquatics, structured his daugh-
ter’s early workouts around form
rather than distance.

By middle school she
was recognized as a prodi-
gious swimmer. In 2015, as a
fifth-grader, Zoe Skirboll set
her first of five national age
group records by swimming
the 100-meter freestyle in less
than a minute. One day later
she set a new record in the
girls’ 10-and-under 100-meter
freestyle. After that, she became
the second 10-year-old girl in
history to swim the 50-meter
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