When it comes to high school swimming in Illinois, the name Minervini is Italian for excellence.
Two years ago, Naperville North`s Gianni Minervini set an Illinois record in the 100-yard breaststroke at the state meet. He was fifth in the NCAA finals as a freshman, swimming for UCLA.
This year, Gianni`s brother Fabio, a Naperville North senior, has a chance at glory. Fabio, runner-up in the state breaststroke last season, has the top time this season of 58.81 seconds.
Swimming in the wake of Gianni Minervini isn`t an easy task, but it isn`t one from which Fabio will back off.
”What Gianni did is always in the back of my mind,” Fabio said. ”I think about it. But what counts is I try my hardest.”
”Fabio doesn`t have any hang-ups about his brother,” Naperville North coach George Klumb said. ”He has a lot of respect for his brother. He takes pride in that. He has a lot of pride in his own ability, too.”
When the Minervini family moved from Rome two years ago, no one was happier than Klumb.
”Gianni is a lot faster, but Fabio is fast in his own right,” Klumb said. ”They are two of the top breaststrokers ever to come out of Naperville North, or Illinois for that matter. Gianni was the top high school breaststroker in the United States that year.”
Fabio would like to become the best in Illinois. His main competition will come from defending champion Chris Grider of Springfield and Schaumburg sophomore Brock Harr. Grider has swum 1:01.46 this year, and Harr has gone 59.75.
”It looks like they are the class of the breaststroke,” Klumb said.
”They`re close enough that anything can happen. There might be some surprises we don`t know about yet. Realistically, I`d like to see him go in the 57s somewhere, probably low. I think that`s a very realistic goal, certainly within range. He`s ahead of last year`s pace.”
”In the breaststroke, my main goal is to win the state meet,” said Fabio, his Italian accent still very clear. ”For the time, I would like to go in the high 56s or low 57s.”
Fabio also wants to help Mark Townsend, Greg Paine and Sean Brock win a state medley relay title and set a state record. Gianni anchored the medley relay to a state championship two years ago.
”They`re two very different kids in some respects,” Klumb said of the Minervini`s. ”They`re both very interested in swimming. Fabio works a lot harder than Gianni did. He`s more aggressive, more intense. He`s a more versatile swimmer. The individual medley, the sprint freestyle . . . Fabio has made himself versatile enough to give him other options.”
Fabio placed eighth in the individual medley at last year`s state finals. He said, ”Right now, it looks like I will swim both of them in state.”
Where might he be swimming next year?
”He has a lot of schools interested in him,” Klumb said. ”He has to wait and see before he makes a decision. There is a little bit of a gray area. A lot of the big colleges are interested, but he wants to make sure where he goes he`ll be able to swim. Like UCLA, you could go there and never make the traveling squad.”
Fabio, who plans to visit UCLA in March, keeps in touch with his older brother.
”I talk to him every once in a while,” Fabio said. ”He just asked me how I`m doing. He asked me what my times are like. He didn`t say I should be swimming faster or anything like that.”
