Cianciolo Makes Her Parents Proud

A first-generation college student, Christina Cianciolo could never have imagined attending an Ivy League institution like Dartmouth College.

"It was the summer of my senior year," she said. "My SAT scores came out and my dad said, 'Why don't you apply and try to be recruited by the Ivy Leagues and see what happens?'"

Not long after, Cianciolo started talking with the Dartmouth swimming and diving program.

"Right off the bat, I loved it here and was so enamored by the fact that I even had the potential to go to a school like this," she said. "College was always the end goal, but the Ivy League seemed to be out of reach."

Actually, it was very much within reach for Cianciolo, who was hooked to Dartmouth from the beginning.

"I talked to my dad before I left campus on my visit and said I had to go here," she said. "The recruiting visit was so amazing and nothing like I had experienced before."

Committing to Dartmouth was special for not only Cianciolo, but also her entire family. A native of Sarasota, Florida, swimming began as a hobby, but quickly developed into a potential pathway to college.

"I started swimming when I was seven," she said. "When it was noticeable, at least to my coaches, that I had a talent for swimming, they encouraged me to go for it. My parents really aspired for me to have a college experience, so when swimming had the potential to become a way to catapult me towards that, my parents really pushed it."

When describing the feeling of getting accepted into Dartmouth, and committing to the swimming and diving team, Cianciolo used the word euphoric.
Christina Cianciolo competing in day one of Ramsden Invitational

Christina Cianciolo competing in day one of Ramsden Invitational

"For a while, it felt like every day, I was waking up and just couldn't believe I was going to Dartmouth," she said. "My parents couldn't have been more ecstatic. I was also going to a place that really, really wanted me."

What would follow for Cianciolo would be an up-and-down four years featuring an unimaginable swing of circumstances, and emotions, that no one could have expected.

Late in Cianciolo's freshman year, COVID-19 struck the United States and shut down athletics for the rest of that school year (after the swimming and diving season ended) and the following academic year. Not only that, but the Dartmouth swimming and diving program was cut in July of 2020 then later reinstated in January of 2021.

"I experienced what it was like to have my sport taken away," said Cianciolo. "There aren't many opportunities in life that you get to experience the competitiveness and drive that comes with DI athletics. Swimming and school were two main facets of my life. I had to find something else, find a different hobby and find something else that I found equally fulfilling."

Cianciolo asked herself those questions, while simultaneously fighting for the program.

"Fighting to get the team back made me realize a lot about patience and what it means to fight for something you really believe in," she said. "Actually fighting for change was really hard and something I had never experienced before in my life.

"It was very transformative."

Once the team was back, Cianciolo ran into a problem.

"It actually turned out the hardest part was getting back into swimming itself after taking such a long time off," she said. "Also learning how to fall in love with the sport again, how to take on the challenge of going back into a very rigorous sport after taking a year off, helped me think about what discipline means in my life."

Cianciolo brings with her a drive to be better that has proven invaluable, especially since that point in time.
Christine Cianciolo 2022 Headshot

"Overall, and especially athletically, I just have the drive to be better and to help the team be better," she said. "There are going to be days when I might feel off or might not swim as well. I might not hit my times that I need to hit or want to hit, but producing an attitude that still allows the team to be better is my ultimate drive."

Cianciolo also brings a perspective to the team that coincides with a way of thinking she learned in her classes.

"I have been introduced to opinions that I may not agree with, but have to argue for, or opinions that I do agree with, but have to argue against," said the politics, philosophy and economics major. "I have taken a philosophy class that doesn't really agree with the government class I'm taking. To have those differing opinions at the same time allows me to expand and learn to form my own opinions. I'm also a women gender studies minor, so that often goes up against what I might be learning in the government or economics department."

How does that coincide with an athletics team, you ask?

Wherever there is any group of people, like on an athletics team, there are bound to be differing thoughts and opinion. An empathetic leader, Cianciolo attempts to see both sides of every argument.

"I don't really like to take sides," she said. "I'd much rather see the points of view of both people. I think in that way, it has also allowed me to be more compassionate to a lot of issues."

Cianciolo described her persona as calming, which is an important characteristic, especially as the only senior on the Big Green women's team.

"Christina cares so much about creating space for people and making sure that everyone is able to be included in our team," said head coach Milana Socha, who was an assistant coach at Dartmouth during Cianciolo's freshman year. "She brings that mass amount of empathy and patience to listening to people's problems or concerns. Without her, our team this season would look dramatically different.

"She is an incredibly special and powerful leader."

Cianciolo's parents could not be more proud of their daughter, as a leader and person.

"I recently had a conversation with my dad where he said, 'You constantly exceed every expectation I've ever had for you and I couldn't be more proud of everything you've done,'" she said. "Being a first-generation college student is very largely in my background because this never felt like it could have been a reality.

"The fact that it is, and the fact that I've been able to excel at Dartmouth, gives me a deep sense of confidence in what I can accomplish in the world post-college life."

Cianciolo shared a story from her early teenage years.
Christina Cianciolo

"At the time, my dad was already starting to instill this idea of college and swimming in college," she said. "He was showing me these lists of top 10 colleges and Princeton was on the list. He said something along the lines of, 'You don't really have to worry about Princeton. The Ivy League is probably not going to be in the cards.'"

It wasn't on the forefront of their minds at that moment, but it very much would be in the cards for Cianciolo, who has gone on to make an impact with the Big Green in a big way.

"Christina has been absolutely invaluable to the program, not just to this team in this present moment," said Socha. "The legacy she has helped create for the perpetuity of the team is astounding.

"In all honesty, the team wouldn't exist without Christina."

Cianciolo takes pride in everything she does, as she represents more than just herself.

She is representing her family.

"The fact that I've been successful in what I do is something I take pride in," said Cianciolo. "It has not come easily. Part of it is the feeling that I have to be successful for my family.

"At the same time, I enjoy what I'm doing here so much that the success is almost easy," she continued. "Not in the sense that studying is easy or getting up at 5 a.m. to swim is easy, but in the sense that it makes other aspects of life seem easier. I already got up at 5 a.m. to go swim and work really hard in a really cold pool.

"I can't imagine that I'm not prepared for life at this point."

Life for Cianciolo recently included her Senior Day Meet vs. UMass and Northeastern, which saw her parents travel to Hanover from Florida.

"They hadn't seen me swim since high school and it's the last time they'll ever get to see me swim, at least competitively, in a meet," said Cianciolo.

It was a special moment for Cianciolo, who has one more meet left, the Ivy League Championship this Wednesday through Saturday.

Taking a step back, it's amazing to think how much has happened between Cianciolo's first and fourth years.
Christina Cianciolo women's swim action versus Harvard and Cornell

Christina Cianciolo women's swim action versus Harvard and Cornell

"I remember watching Christina and having a conversation with Christina at the Ivy Championship her freshman year," said Socha. "The nervousness, the self-doubt piece you have when you're a freshman and watching who she was then and who she has become now — in spite of all the challenges, adversity and the non-traditional college experience that she's had to navigate — has blown my mind.

"There are so many people who would have folded," Socha continued. "Christina didn't. She rose to the challenge and made the program better and has made it better for other people, too."

Cianciolo's future is bright, as is the Dartmouth swimming and diving program because of the legacy she's leaving.

"It has been a pleasure to get to see this program through its ups-and-downs and being in a moment when I feel very confident about where it's going to be in the future," she said. "As a freshman, I thought, 'What am I going to leave here when I'm a senior? Where is the team going to be?'"

The answer? The team, and program, is strong at its core… and on the rise.

Thanks in large part to Christina Cianciolo.

"After everything that has happened, I'm very excited for where the team is going," she said. "Two years ago, we didn't even think we were going to be here. So, for us to be on the up-and-up, it's very exciting."

Schedules

Players Mentioned

Christina Cianciolo

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Schedules

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Brown on November 7, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Princeton on November 7, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Harvard on November 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus Cornell on November 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving at Golden Grizzly Classic on December 3, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving versus CSCAA Open Water Nationals on December 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM