University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Marie Schobel
January 19, 2023 | Swimming & Diving, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Georgia swimmer Marie Schobel loves her hometown of Sea Girt, N.J., and she hopes to live there again one day. The former lifeguard can't get enough of the beach, the ocean, and everything that the small coastal town of about 1,900 people has to offer.
After swimming at Penn State for four years — she was an All-American in 2020 — Schobel has joined the Bulldogs this season as a graduate transfer working on a master's in Business Analytics in the Terry College of Business. If you're wondering how she likes it, she'll tell you that she wishes she'd gotten here sooner.
Schobel celebrated a birthday last week, as did her twin sister, Erin. She also has a set of twin older brothers, Conner and Ryan. During a recent Quick Chat, Schobel talked about her hometown, her love of the ocean, transferring to Georgia, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:Â
Frierson: I was unfamiliar with Sea Girt before preparing for this interview. What can you tell me about Sea Girt?
Schobel: It's a small beach town on the Jersey shore, right in central Jersey, so it's not in South Jersey or North Jersey, it's right in the middle. It's like one mile long, so not many people know about it.
It's where I've been forever and where I hopefully am going to end up, too. I just love it there so much.
Frierson: That's great. I think more and more these days, people don't want to go back to their small hometowns, so it's nice to hear how much affection you have for the place. What is it like to grow up in a beach community?
Schobel: It's the only source of entertainment [laughs]. I'm a huge beach girl, so it fits perfectly. There is one elementary school, K-8. Everybody knows everybody. I went to kindergarten through eighth grade with four girls and then the rest boys, like 15 or 16 boys, so it's super small and close-knit.
The beach is at the center of everything. Surfing is huge, and everything revolving around the ocean is huge.
Frierson: When it comes to swimming, have you done any open-water racing?
Schobel: I haven't done full-blown open-water races, but I was a lifeguard and we did lifeguard tournaments, and each beach along the Jersey Shore, all the way from Sandy Hook down to Camp May, compete throughout the summer with their teams. There's distance swim, there's run-swim-runs, there's distance runs, paddle relays, different life-saving relays that people do, so I've been racing in the ocean for a long time — from junior guards to my sophomore year of college.
I definitely raced in the ocean, and I love it.
Frierson: How are you on a surfboard? Or do you do other things like stand-up paddleboarding?
Schobel: I have a stand-up paddleboard and a surfboard, actually. My Christmas gift was a new surfboard, and I'm very happy about it.
I really love surfing. That's a bit staple in my family — I have a bunch of siblings and a lot of them are also very interested in surfing. I love it.
I'm a big "the ocean is healing" believer. I think it literally saves people and changes things. Even though it's the winter in New Jersey, and it's freezing in New Jersey, but it's so amazing to be in the vicinity of the ocean. You don't know it until you live there.
I do miss it a lot. I love it here, but being here makes me appreciate home that much more.
Frierson: Speaking of being here, what has the transition to UGA been like?
Schobel: I love it. It is a huge change from just being in the Big Ten and being in Pennsylvania. Being in the South in general and being in the SEC, it's a whole other level. The competition, the resources and the coaching staff, just everything that Georgia has to offer, I just cannot believe that I didn't get here sooner. I can't believe it. We're so lucky to be here, and I'm so lucky to be in this program even if it's only for one year.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Schobel: Pizza ... but only from New Jersey [laughs]. In New Jersey, pizza and bagels. All around, where it can be made everywhere, I love crepes. And you can make them so many different ways that I can eat them every da.
Frierson: What is your perfect crepe?
Schobel: Super, super thin, a little bit of butter, powdered sugar and lemon — the perfect crepe. It's so yummy.
Frierson: Is one of the luxuries of working as hard as you all do the fact that you burn right through everything you eat, so you can maybe treat yourself a bit more often?
Schobel: Definitely. I think all of us really watch and are very particular about what we eat, especially right now in the season. But, there do come those days where if you want to, and I do, it's a no-brainer.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Schobel: Ten years is a long time. I'm hoping I've got my New York City finance itch out of the way and am settling into a position as close to Sea Girt, New Jersey as possible. My birthday's tomorrow, so I'll be 33 in 10 years. Yeah, as close to Sea Girt as possible. And hopefully near my family. I have a twin and then twin brothers, as well. so we all hoping we're going to circle back and be near each other again.
We all have a pact that we will be back as soon as we can.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
