Busy day ahead for the Berduscos

You ask Amy Berdusco if this is a good time to talk. She laughs.

“Well,” she said, “there never really is a good time.”

Then she obliges.

There is always time to talk about swimming, which the Berdusco family loves. Tons.

Chances are there won’t be a busier person Saturday at the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando, site of the Class 1A state swimming and diving championships, than Berdusco, a mom to three of Saint Stephen’s four qualifiers.

Annie, a junior, will be competing in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles, as will Michael, a freshman. Ellie, a seventh-grader, will swim in the 200 individual medley.

“I love it when my kids are in so many events,” Amy said.

Especially when those events are played out in a pool. Swimming keeps kids in good shape. It teaches them how to budget their time. It teaches them how to handle disappointment when things don’t go their way and how to win graciously when they do.

“My husband and I love the sport,” Amy said.

It can be a grind. The three Berduscos — there are five kids in all; Brian, 11, and Russell, 8, play tennis — swim club with the Sharks in Sarasota. Annie and Michael practice at 3 p.m. and Ellie practices at 5, which requires the Berduscos to take two cars to the Selby Aquatic Center each day.

It’s a 45-minute drive. And on some mornings, the kids have to be there at 5.

“It’s not easy,” Amy said.

Michael and Ellie started swimming at 7, which is when Annie was staking herself to a successful career as a gymnast.

“She would come home with all of these trophies,” Amy said, “and Michael would see that, so he wanted to be really good in his sport.”

Three years ago, however, Annie decided to join her younger siblings at the deep end of the pool. Consequently, the Berduscos are on their way to Orlando this morning, hoping to turn the Central Florida YMCA into the happiest place on Earth.

“In swimming, they have to love the work to be successful,” Amy said. “And they do love the work.”

But it’s not all work. All three Berduscos — as well as Will Kazokas, Saint Stephen’s fourth state qualifier — are honor roll students at Saint Stephen’s. And the family still finds time to take vacations — they went to Oregon this past summer — and make the best of whenever the entire family is together.

“We don’t get to do many family dinners,” Amy said, “but when we do, it’s quality time.”

Sports is all about sacrifice, and few athletes and their families sacrifice as much as swimmers. Kazokas, for example, lives in Myakka, but finds himself in Sarasota six days a week for practice.

It’s time consuming. It’s maddening. But after you talk to someone like Amy Berdusco, you find out that, most importantly, it’s worth it.