Cassidy Sadowski ’22 was first introduced to water polo during middle school after she started to swim competitively. Living in a region with a strong water polo program, she was able to develop her skills before joining the Andover team.
Once joining the team at Andover, Sadowski had to make an exciting, yet unnatural transition, as she described it. The majority of athletes at Andover, unlike herself, had never played before.
“I think for me, the transition to Andover was exciting but a little unnatural, because in a way, it was taking a few steps back because I was playing with people who hadn’t played before. The team was less experienced than my eighth-grade team… But with that, the waterpolo team has been one of the most positive places for me on campus. To be honest, as someone who’s been playing for a while there’s also a large joy in not being in a competitive environment, but rather it being a really supportive place where everyone is learning together. I would say that that’s brought a lot of joy to my life,” Sadowski said.
Sadowski sees herself as more of a defensive player than an offensive one. However, over the last few weeks, she has been trying to focus on improving her weak areas in the sport.
Sadowski said, “I think in the past, I’ve been a far more focused defensive player than an offensive threat. In these last couple of weeks, I like to work with my coaches and my team to develop my offensive strategy. I am not the fastest swimmer on our team so I don’t take the fast breaks in the drives like other people are more capable of doing, but I found that I have a real strong shot from seven meters away from the goal. I can use a foul to take a free shot. Finding those areas where I am stronger and able to be both an offensive and defensive fit, I think has really improved my playing in the last couple of weeks.”
As a leader on the team, Sadowski hopes to push teammates to be stronger players while simultaneously maintaining a positive attitude. She believes that her experience has helped her connect with teammates and make them feel more comfortable on the team.
Sadowski said, “I think that my biggest priority is leading the team with positivity and joy. We come from a lot of different places around campus but we’re all really excited [to play together]. With my experience, I hope to teach others and create a safe space to learn and make mistakes and try again, but also to work hard as athletes and push each other to put our all into practice every day.”
According to Simi Cheema ’22 and Mia Wonacott ’24, Sadowski has been a vital member of the team. They attributed her vitality, in part, to her high energy and team spirit.
Cheema said, “She’s central to the team… since she really boosts team morale. Every day she comes to practice and she knew she wanted to be there. Some people dread going to practice, I can say I did sometimes. However, she was always really really excited to go and she’s also very Team Blue.”
Wonacott added, “She brings so much energy and so much positivity to the team. I knew that she was going to be a great captain because she always has a lot of spirit. I think that’s what we really need, especially since we’ve had kind of a tough season, but she’s always stayed positive no matter what given circumstances. I’m really grateful that we have her as captain.”
