In the aftermath of the Central Piedmont Conference championships at Winston-Salem State on Jan. 20, Davie senior swimmer Victoria Sinopoli basked in the glory of making all-conference for the fourth time in her career.

The top two finishers in each event made the list.

• In 2015, Sinopoli’s 200 free relay team finished second.

• In 2016, Sinopoli finished second in the 100 butterfly at 1:02.05, and Sinopoli and Alexa Hutton helped the 200 free relay to second at 1:46.

• And in the 2018 championship meet, Sinopoli did as good as she could have hoped for as the No. 3 seed in the 100 butterfly. She captured runner-up out of 16 competitors with a time of 1:01.9.

“I definitely had that pressure to qualify as an all-conference swimmer because you expect the seniors to perform better,” Sinopoli said. “So there was a lot of pressure on me to achieve my goals and also show the other teams in the conference that Davie has a well-rounded team. I was determined to get all-conference.”

While Alexander Reece of Reagan took first at 58.2, Sinopoli surged past Madison McGuinness of West Forsyth (1:02.82). Sinopoli’s 1:01.9 was a season-best time and one second off her career best.

“My goal is to definitely go under one minute,” she said. “I’ve been striving for that and I hope I’ll be getting that this year. (Reece) swims with me on my competitive year-round team, and she is very fast. It’s always a good race (against McGuinness) when we’re swimming together.”

Sinopoli began swimming in summer leagues at age 7. Two years later, he started competing year-round.

“My sophomore year I tried lacrosse, but I found out I’m a lot better at swimming than lacrosse,” she said with a laugh.

This could have been three straight all-conference years in the butterfly, but Sinopoli did not compete in that event as a junior. She did the 200 IM and 100 backstroke instead.

“The 100 butterfly is a hard stroke,” she said. “It is one of the hardest, but it’s my best event. So I enjoy doing it.”

The 200-yard freestyle relay team came oh so close to making all-conference, finishing third out of 12 teams. Sophomores Riley White and Mackenzie Umberger, Sinopoli and junior Hutton checked out at 1:50.76, a hair behind runner-up Reynolds (1:50.15).

“I wasn’t really disappointed or anything because I know all the girls on our relay tried our hardest,” Sinopoli said. “There’s just little things that cost us that all-conference title. I have confidence in us that we can make it to states, and I really hope we do.”

On top by a mile was Reagan, which captured the girls’ title for the eighth consecutive year with 468 points. West Forsyth had 297, Reynolds 156, Davie 127, East Forsyth 112 and Glenn 54. The male Raiders claimed the CPC for the sixth year in a row with 435 points to Reynolds’ 359, West’s 245, Davie’s 88, East’s 73 and Glenn’s 18.

The consolation for the fourth-place Davie teams: After placing fifth in 2016 and sixth in 2017, the lady War Eagles enjoyed their best showing in three years. Same for the Davie boys, who finished fifth in 2016 and sixth in 2017.

Sinopoli is a two-time state qualifier in relays. Now she wants to add an exclamation point to her terrific career by qualifying for the state as an individual.

“In the past three years I have finished ninth in the 100 fly and the top eight make it to states,” she said. “So definitely I want to make eight or up and qualify in an individual event. I need to drop one or two more seconds in order to make it.”

First-year coach Kaitlin Sizemore characterized Sinopoli as the absolute rock of the War Eagles.

“Victoria is an incredible young lady,” Sizemore said. “Not only have I had the pleasure to coach her, but I also taught her during her junior year. She is goal-driven and determined to be the best student and athlete she can be. It has been a true pleasure coaching her and watching her grow. She works so hard to achieve her goals. Seeing her make all-conference was such an exciting time for all of us, and it was much deserved. I can’t wait to see how she does in regionals and hopefully states.”