As the beep sounded and the red light flashed, senior Quinn Caputo launched himself off of the starting block during a North swim meet against Framingham. He then quickly pulled himself down into a tight streamline, entered the water with his body perfectly straight, and set himself up for a winning race.
Caputo’s unrelenting dedication to the sport has allowed him to succeed in his personal career, but what truly sets him apart is his ability to improve others around him. More recently, he helped transform North’s swim team, leading by example.
“He’s incredibly talented, and he puts in a lot of work. He does all the little things to make himself a better swimmer, and he spends every day trying to improve himself,” said counselor Patrick Manning, boys’ swim and dive head coach.
Throughout his career, Caputo’s various accomplishments have reflected his diligence. In the 2023 New England Swimming Championships, he placed first in the 200 individual medley.
This year, in his first year swimming for North, he led the team to a third-place finish at States while individually breaking and re-breaking five school records. Caputo was named a Scholastic All-American swimmer for all four years of high school, which recognizes his effort both in academics and in the pool.
Caputo began swimming competitively at six years old. After training at swim clubs like JCC and Crimson Aquatics, he finally found his place at Revolution.
According to Manning, Caputo usually swims 18 to 20 hours a week, often waking up earlier than 4:30 a.m. for practice.
Sophomore Lucy Caputo, his sister, said, “He’s a very inspirational person because he excels at his sport and school. He’s so hardworking and he really tries to achieve all of his goals.That’s why he’s been able to come so far in everything he wants to do, like breaking so many records and going to Cornell.”
Despite the intensity of his schedule, Caputo said he still loves the sport of swimming because of the community, the environment, and the discipline it requires.
“I like the team atmosphere and competitive environment. My teammates inspire me. They motivate me to work hard,” said Caputo. “I’ve definitely gained a lot of skills from swimming. I learned the ability to work hard and push myself. You have to push yourself to a limit if you want to improve, so that’s definitely a skill that’s directly applicable to real life.”
This year, Caputo made a splash, beating 8 school swim records, including the 200 yard medley relay, 200 yard individual medley, 100 butterfly, 100 free, 500 free, 200 freestyle relay, 100 yard backstroke, and 400 yard freestyle relay. He earned times of 1:41.46, 1:51.3, 50:55, 47:38, 4:45.36, 1:28.91, 50.92, and 3:17.62, respectively, and his wins earned him eight spots on North’s Chris “Doc” Jones Record Board.
“Some of those school records have stood over there for over a decade, and what’s cool about it is that he set all those individual records, but he also worked with his teammates to set those relay records,” said Manning. “For every one of those relays, he had a different group of kids he was with. He made sure that everyone was rising up to his level, and he brought the whole team up with him.”
Outside of school, Caputo is a captain on his Revolution club swim team. He spends his time there honing his skills and working with younger kids, resulting in development of strong leadership skills and creating a supportive team environment.
According to Manning, Caputo is not just a talented athlete doing an individual sport. He is also a team player and a leader who supports and motivates everybody around him.
As Caputo takes his last pull, he slams his hand into the touchpad, securing his win. Although this victory is just another one of his numerous wins, behind every success of his lies countless hours of swimming with dedication and discipline.
Caputo will take his swimming talents to Cornell University this fall.
