Azariah Mamousette has been obsessed with swimming pools since he was an infant. His father, Abednego, learned that the only way he could get his son to stop crying would be to bring him to the Hyde Park YMCA on Saturday mornings when his mom, Sophia Kelly-Mamousette, was at work.
Now 18 and a freshman at Boston University studying behavioral science, Mamousette is a member of the men’s swimming and diving team. It’s the latest dive into the sport for the young man from Dorchester who learned to swim competitively at the Lee School on Talbot Avenue.
“When I was younger, I did a bunch of sports, but swimming was the only sport that kept me tired and [got me to] sleep at the end of the night,” Azariah said in an interview. “It was so time-consuming and energy-taxing that as soon as I finished practice, I’d come home, eat, and go straight to sleep. Then my mom and dad could focus on their work and stuff like that.”
Sophia noted that Azariah started swimming before his first birthday. “He had zero fear,” she said, and the Lee School pool was his favorite destination.
“That’s where he was given free rein to just kind of explore getting in the water. They would just strap him up in one of those life jackets and allow him to jump into the deep end,” she said.
Jason Chung, his swim instructor at the Lee, encouraged him to try out for the swim team at the Dorchester YMCA, and at age 7, he joined the Inner City Marine Swim Club.
“My coach, Jason, saw the amount of potential I had and kept me racing against people who were faster than me and bigger than me.”
Chung, who now coaches at the Revolution Aquatic Club in Waltham, said that Azariah was like a sponge. “He’s a good listener and pays attention. I knew that he was going to swim there [at the collegiate level] anyway.”
By the age of 10, he was breaking records on the Y’s team to the point where he was recognized by the Boston City Council.
Five years later, he joined Crimson Aquatics in Waltham, where he trained under coach Jen Purvis until the Covid epidemic put a halt to the fun for a while.
“Before quarantine, it was kind of rough because I hadn’t grown yet,” Azariah said. “I was plateauing, and there were a lot of long conversations after practice with my mom just talking about if I even still want to swim or if I’m having fun.
“Then quarantine happened. I honestly think it was probably one of the best things that happened to my swim career. That long break gave me time for my body to grow, it gave me time for my mind to grow, and my love for swimming grew a hundred times.”
His passion reignited, Mamousette became a top competitor and a leader on his high school team at Dexter Southfield, where he qualified for the USA Swimming Futures Championship and was then invited to the Speedo Winter Junior Championships as a sophomore.
“That year and summer opened my eyes to the potential that I, even to this day, still have in what I can really do with swimming,” he said.
“I loved competing for Dexter,” he recalled with a smile. “My best friend Duke Garvin [now swimming at Cornell], who was also swimming club and high school, we could go and just have as much fun as possible. High school swim for us was like an outlet.”
In his senior year, Mamousette broke the school record in the 200 Free Relay, 100 Butterfly, 100 Free, and 50 Free. He also was a Division II champion, setting the record for the 50 and 100 Free.
By then, he had committed to attend Boston University and swim for head coach James Sica. Two weeks ago, Azariah competed in his final meet of the season and set a two personal bests, posting a 49.84 in the 100 backstroke and a 45.76 in the 100 freestyle.
Coach Sica told the Reporter that Mamousette’s “ability to get the energy up at meets is unmatched.”
“While he had his fair share of challenges to start his freshman year, Azi has met each one head on and used them as an opportunity to learn and grow,” said Sica. “Azi has a bright future ahead of him at BU, and we are excited to see how he contributes in our spring season and in the coming years.”
Mamousette says his freshman season has been all about growth.
“I battled a couple of spontaneous injuries, a couple of illnesses, and classes were definitely taking me out. But, throughout it all, I never gave up on swimming.”
Along the way, his parents attended just about every meet, cheering him on. His great-grandmother even made it to a meet for the first time. Summing up the year, he said, “I learned a lot about myself, the coaches, my teammates, and swimming in general.”
He added: “I’m so excited for sophomore year because a lot of circumstances are going to change. I know exactly what that schedule and cycle are like. So it’s like, how can I come back next year to be even better?”
“A big goal for me is to final in the 50 free at our Patriot League Champion meet. The 50 free is my main event. I would love to qualify and score as many points as I can for the team.”
But his ambition is pointed well beyond Boston.
“One of my big goals is to try to qualify for the Olympic 2028 trials,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy. The Olympics are the highest level of swimming. So, if I want to make that goal, I’m going to have to treat the rest of my swim career like I’m basically going to the Olympics.”
Taking it all in, Sophia spoke about her son: “I think we definitely played a role in having him understand that, we live in Dorchester; however, you can dream big, this does not have to be your final stop. You can use this as your starting point. And whatever that future looks like for you, please, dream big. This is not the end.”
Azariah says he wants to see other kids from his neighborhood dream big and put in the work, too.
“Coming from Dorchester/Roxbury and as a man of color, we don’t have the top spot in a majority of things,” he said. ‘All young African American athletes in Dorchester should stay gritty. Make sure that you are doing everything you can to be as good as possible at what you’re doing and stay humble. At the end of the day, the work will show results.”
He added: “No matter your race or anything like that, we’re all on even playing fields in sports. If someone’s better than you, they’re better than you; that’s what it is. So be the best.”
