The number of people who recognize Joey Dalesandro’s name is far greater than those who actually know him.
The Neuqua Valley senior swimmer is the younger brother of Gia Dalesandro, who won the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly state titles for Neuqua in 2012 and now stars for Indiana University.
Naturally, people assume Dalesandro is following in his sister’s footsteps, but that’s true only to a point.
“It’s tough to follow Gia,” Dalesandro said. “You do hear, ‘Oh, it’s in your blood,’ from people outside your family. If you’re in the swimming community, you know the last name and you don’t think Joey, you think Gia.
“I’m not tired of it, but it’s something that kind of motivates me to stand out a little bit more, especially this year.”
Of course, swimming in pools where your sister’s name is on the wall can be a little annoying. But Gia, who swam for the United States at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last summer, was the one who introduced her brother to swimming.
“The reason I got in swimming was because I was walking around at her summer meets when she was 7 or 8 and I was like 4 or 5 and I was like, ‘OK, I’m here all the time, let me try it,'” Dalesandro said. “So, it’s something that our whole family has been involved with for as long as I can remember.”
But swimming has never been Dalesandro’s only sport, and until recently, it wasn’t even his best. A four-year member of the water polo team, he also played baseball, basketball, tennis and football growing up. He is particularly proud of the two touchdown catches he made for Neuqua’s freshman “A” football team.
“We had a hard time getting him to come out freshman year and even sophomore year was kind of a struggle whether he was going to come out or not,” Neuqua Valley coach Chad Allen said. “He’s come a long way in four years.
“He hasn’t done the offseason swimming that you typically get, but he does a good job working out in the weight room and with dry-land training.”
Dalesandro reaped the benefits last season, when he helped the Wildcats finish a surprising eighth at the state meet despite not scoring in individual events. He was a member of all three relays that finished sixth, ninth and 11th at state.
That performance, combined with his trip to Toronto to cheer Gia, who finished sixth in the 100-meter butterfly at the Pan Am Games, has fueled Dalesandro. He is ranked fourth in the state in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 free, according to Illinoisaquatics.com. He likely will do three relays again, and hopes to medal in whichever individual sprint he enters.
“Last year I wouldn’t call a breakout,” Dalesandro said. “It was definitely a year where we started getting our name out there. But this year, our whole team is (having) a breakout year. We’re going to surprise some people.”
Dalesandro surprised himself by reconsidering his decision to not swim in college.
“Swimming is a brutal sport,” Dalesandro said. “Going into this year, I wasn’t planning on it, but it’s been such a blast so far and we’ve been doing so well and I’m a competitive guy.
“It’s hard to not be intrigued by coaches asking about you. It’s flattering and you like to hear your name.”
Dalesandro is also grateful for his sister’s advice.
“Just listening to her expertise from what she does at practice in college and what you can do to contribute to your team as the season goes on, she’s really insightful about that stuff,” Dalesandro said. “She’s giving me a lot of tips with the recruiting process.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
