Rarely is there a time when Cara Davidoff isn’t smiling. Whether waiting in a long line to pick up her cap and gown, patiently signing a friend’s yearbook, or standing on a platform ready to dive into the pool, she always looks like she is having fun. Probably because she is. Enjoying herself no matter what the situation has been the secret to Davidoff’s success as a swimmer and in the classroom over the last four years. Her calmness under pressure and winning attitude won her many races in her career as a Dolphin and also earned her this year’s Post Cup Award as outstanding senior athlete at Palisades High. Though soft-spoken and team-oriented, in between the lanes Davidoff is a fierce competitor who doesn’t like to lose. And because of her God-given talent and determination to be the best she can be, she never has to settle for second place. ‘Cara is as close to a sure thing as there is,’ says Adam Blakis, her longtime coach at the Palisades-Malibu YMCA and assistant swim coach at PaliHi. ‘You can always count on her to win and that pumps the rest of the team up. She’s always encouraging everyone else’she’s a great cheerleader. But she also leads by example.’ In Davidoff’s first three seasons on varsity, the PaliHi girls won three consecutive City team championships and she was the rudder of the team’s ship. She won the 50 freestyle each year and won the 100 free as a freshman and again as a junior. A testament to her unselfishness was her willingness to swim two new events her senior year to give her team a better chance of winning. ‘It was actually fun to swim two new events. There are different things I like about each,’ says Davidoff, who won the 200 free and 100 butterfly at last month’s City finals, leading her team to a second-place finish. ‘At first I hated the 200 Free and 100 fly but I’ve grown to like them more. It’s hard learning new strokes but it’s also a challenge.’ As a junior, Davidoff posted All-American times in the 50 free (24.10) and 100 free (52.31) events. She also anchored the Dolphins’ 200 free relay team that set the City record in 1:45.29. Despite swimming new events, Davidoff dominated just as much this year, swimming the 100 fly in 58.71’just 44 hundreths of a second off the Section mark. And again, she anchored two winning relays. ‘Even though we didn’t win City, I enjoyed this year as much as any of the others,’ she says. ‘This team was so unified. Everyone got along so well and we all stuck together.’ Though she often beats her competitors by a lap, it would be a mistake to assume swimming has always come easy for Davidoff. In fact, she had to overcome adversity at an early age. ‘I had this joint disease when I was younger and my parents would tell me to take it easy, not to push it,’ Davidoff recalls. ‘But eventually, it went away and I kept going.’ Though she enjoyed ballet, dance and soccer as a child, she took a liking to swimming from the moment she took up the sport at the age of 7. She credits Blakis with helping to improve her technique and increase her level of concentration: ‘Adam has definitely made a huge difference. I get along with him really well, he’s a good teacher and he’s a good motivator. He makes me want to swim more.’ Davidoff’s success is a by-product of her painstaking attention to detail coupled with hours upon hours of practice. In the summer she often gets to the gym by 7 o’clock in the morning to work out. Her daily regimen is just what she needs to reach her next goal: the Olympic trials in four years. But before that is a promising collegiate career at Tulane University in New Orleans. ‘Tulane was the school that fit me best,’ Davidoff says. ‘They just reinstated their swim program last year so I’ll be a part of their rebuilding process. The coach was really cool and I love the campus. I’m really excited about swimming at the Division I level and hopefully it will be a stepping stone towards my next goal.’ Following in Cara’s footsteps is sister Chelsea, a promising junior-to-be on the Pali swim team. The example the older Davidoff has set will not only serve her sibling well but all of her teammates as well. When she walks up to receive her diploma at tonight’s graduation, Davidoff will be taking her first step into a bright future. And you can bet she’ll be smiling.
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