The texts confirmed to Samko what she’d suspected for months - Kaduboski was not really ready to call it quits.
“She’d text me, ‘Did you see that? Did you see that?’ ’’ Samko said. “She said she wanted to do that, so I said, ‘OK, let’s go.’ ’’
Samko, along with current Brandeis coach Michael Kotch, a former assistant at Bentley, offered to coach Kaduboski if and when she reentered the world of competitive swimming. It was an easy move for Samko: During the past four years, she had watched Kaduboski become the most decorated swimmer in program history.
Her last swim as a collegian - at the Division 2 championships - had been her finest. She finished in the top 10 in the 200-yard backstroke, the 100-yard butterfly, and the 200-yard butterfly. The performances earned the senior All-American honors for the second time. (She is the first Bentley swimmer to earn All-American honors.)
She was the Northeast-10 butterfly champion three times. When she graduated, she held six individual school records, and was a part of four record-setting relay teams.
“She improved every year for four years,’’ Samko said. “She works really hard. If you give her something to do, she does it. You’d love to have like 50 of your kids do that.’’
The training and competition, however, took their toll on Kaduboski. She’d been competing in the pool since she was 10, and when the chance to step away came at the end of the season, it was a temptation she couldn’t resist.
She didn’t quit entirely. She continued to lift weights, run, and even hop in the pool once a week. The workout regimen wasn’t close to what she’d done as a competitive swimmer, but it kept her in reasonable shape as she prepared for graduate school.
Her swimming career never drifted far from her mind. After the Division 2 championships, Kaduboski had talked with Samko about her performance.
