Shaylea Triller started swimming as an eighth grader, a later start than most swimmers of her skill.
It didn’t matter as the Newburgh Free Academy senior recently signed her National Letter of Intent to swim at Siena College, starting with the 2021-22 season.
“I worked so hard,” Triller said. “It is really rewarding.”
Her signing signaled the end of a long process that also saw her tour fellow Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference school Marist College and consider Iona College. She also toured the College of Saint Rose in Albany.

She had an attachment to Siena through her grandfather and one of her coaches, Emily Hovey, a former Newburgh swimmer who swam for the Saints.
“Coach Emily was our assistant coach and would always talk about Siena and how much of a great experience she had, and I always remembered that,” Triller said. “I knew I wanted to go there because of all the great things she said about it.”
It was the trip to Siena that sold her on the school, as she fell in love with the campus and the environment. She knew that was where she was supposed to be.
She also said she immediately “clicked” with Siena head coach Brogan Barr, who was recently appointed head coach on Aug. 24.
“She constantly reached out,” Triller said. “I had a Zoom call with the entire team within the first couple of weeks, and everybody seemed very welcoming. That’s kind of the vibe I felt with our Newburgh team. We all have a close connection. Without even seeing any of them, they were all super nice.”
She feels welcomed by her future teammates at Siena the same way she felt welcomed as an eighth grader joining the Newburgh Free Academy swim team for the first time.
“That’s what I always remember and that’s what I try to keep in mind when the new girls come on the team,” Triller said. “I always try to be positive because that was a big thing for me. I was so new to everything and I was so happy I had the support.”
She called starting swimming the best decision she ever made, and the effect wasn’t limited to the pool. It stretched to all aspects of her life.
“My grades have gotten better,” Triller said. “I just feel more confident in myself, and being good at something, and being determined to succeed has really helped me. It pushes me mentally and it’s something that’s been really beneficial to me.”
It also didn’t take long to figure out where she fit in the pool. She’s always been a freestyler, but really found a niche in the 100-yard freestyle.
“I think she has a good feel for the strategy of it,” Newburgh coach Patrick Kavanagh said. “She’s in control. She doesn’t let others dictate what she’s doing in that race. She’s confident in that strategy.”
It paid off as Triller made her only trip to the state championships last year in the 100, where she finished 33rd in the 100-yard freestyle.
“It’s just been a goal of mine,” Triller said. “When I finally did it, I was trying to make it in the 200 free, and when that didn’t work, I had to get it the next time. I’m very headstrong like that. I was like, ‘I have to do this’. Looking up at the scoreboard and seeing my teammates jumping up and down, I was like, ‘I did it.’ It was a great feeling. Being at states was so unreal. I couldn’t believe it actually happened.”
She won’t get a chance to return to the state championship meet as fall state championships were postponed and Section 9 postponed the fall season to March and April.
Swimming is considered a low- to moderate-risk sport and is authorized by the state to take place. She and her teammates are making the best out of the pandemic.
“I’ve been trying to go to practice as much as possible,” Triller said. “If we do have a season, I want it to be a good one. It’s my senior year.”
In her words, the last eight months have been “crazy” and she’s looking forward to moving on to a new chapter and furthering her swimming career.
“We’re just really happy for Shaylea,” Kavanagh said. “It means a lot as a coach to hear that she chose a place not based on where she would fall in the lineup or on the roster, but how she gets along with her teammates and her coach. That speaks a lot about who she is as a teammate and a person.”