Smithtown Native Swimmer To Try Out For U.S. Olympic Team

SMITHTOWN, NY — For Ben Cono, swimming has been a way of life for years. He hopes his dedication to the sport will culminate in an opportunity to represent not just his native Smithtown, but also his country, on the grandest stage in sports.

Cono, a 2014 graduate of Smithtown High School East, is making strides testing his skills against the world's elite at the 2021 Summer Olympics, slated for July 23 through Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

First, however, Cono has to prove he is among the best in the United States.

"It would mean the world to me," Cono, 24, told Patch.

Cono will depart Thursday for Omaha, Nebraska, to compete at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials. On Sunday and potentially Monday, Cono will compete in the 100-meter breaststroke for a chance at Tokyo.

Preliminary and semifinal races will determine which of the roughly 150 swimmers make it into two heats of eight for the finals. From there, the two top swimmers will be selected to the Olympic team.

"As long as you get in that 8-final, then it’s anyone’s game, because everyone is extremely stressed at that point, so it’s really just whoever can keep it together better than everyone else," Cono said. "I’ve always been good at that. My biggest goal is to make it in the final and then see what happens after that."

Cono will also test himself in the 200-meter breaststroke, but the 100-meter race is the one he has been preparing for.

Smithtown's own has been living in South Carolina while he trains at the University of South Carolina. Cono has been working part-time in pharmaceutical sales, though he hopes to one day move back to New York to rejoin his family.

Months of training have been going into Cono's preparation for the trials. In December, he and his team shifted to quality over quantity as far as repetitions go. Cono will train swimming two hours a day every day. In addition, Thursdays are for recovery, Saturdays for performance and Wednesdays and Fridays for lifting.

Cono has only been eating 3,000 to 4,000 calories each day — a decrease from his 6,000 to 7,000 since he increased his training load.

"It’s been paying off with everything I’ve been seeing in practice lately," he said. "Things are going just the way that I want them to. Even better than what I want them to."

The coronavirus pandemic has been a thorn in the side of Cono and other athletes. Pool access was scarce, and Cono would train without a coach on the pool deck to guide him.

"You really learn a lot about yourself in training when you’re training four hours at a time at 6 in the morning without a coach 30 minutes away at a backyard pool," he said. "You don’t want to be doing that, but it’s one of those things that you got to accept and keep going."

Training facilities finally reopened in August 2020, though COVID-19 was not done interfering with Cono: He ended up getting the virus at the end of August. He sat out for nearly five weeks as his body recovered from the illness. Five weeks out of the pool is a huge detriment for serious swimmers, as ideally, they don't want to spend more than four days out of the water.

A rusty Cono placed sixth in winter nationals in mid-November.

"I really didn’t have much training to go off of at all," he said. "I wasn’t expecting to do that well when I did show up there under the circumstances."

Now, a healthy Cono has the chance to truly shine and make the U.S. Olympic squad. While he wants to succeed for his country, it would mean more to him to excel for everyone who has cared for him and supported him throughout his ride.

"I’ve had really incredible, great people support me along the way who have empowered me to do things far beyond my wildest imagination," he said.

His parents, coaches, teammates and co-workers have all been there for him in what he referred to as a "brutal" sport.

"You’re kind of isolated for a good bit of your day. Even when you’re at practice, it’s not like you get to talk to your teammates, because you’re either out of breath or your head is underwater. You’re kind of stuck in that loop where there isn’t a lot of socializing."

Cono graduated college in 2019. While he is still relatively young in the swim world, he said he plans to be done with swimming after this Olympics season.

"There are really great opportunities with work," he said. "I’ve had a lot of fun with swimming. It’s been one of the best things that has ever happened to me and been a great medium for me to grow as a person. It’s taught me a lot of life lessons. I’m definitely looking forward to the next stage of life after this."

But before he goes, the Smithtown, Long Island, boy has the chance to carry a country.

"To me, representing the United States would mean representing all the people who supported me through all the challenges. The overwhelming support I’ve gotten from people who mean a lot to me. I want that to be an investment that pays off tenfold. I want them to know how much that meant to me. It’s something I don’t take lightly. Obviously, representing the United States is a great honor and something I would really love to do and have been training for. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was in elementary school."