Mary Cerbone and Kelsey Eastman never had the opportunity to represent Pleasant Valley High School as swimmers.

But the lack of a pool or a swim team at their high school didn't stop the pair from excelling at the sport they love.Cerbone and Eastman took their talents to the Pocono YMCA in Stroudsburg where they competed against some of the best swimmers in the region.It paid off.On Tuesday, the two seniors sat next to classmates in the high school library as Pleasant Valley held a letter of intent signing day for future college athletes. Both will swim at the Division 1 level next seasonCerbone will attend the United States Military Academy at West Point to further her academic and swimming career, while Eastman will do the same as she heads to Wagner College."Mary has been on our team for a long time," Pocono YMCA swim coach Mike Wolbert said. "She has paid her dues. She has put the work in. She's a hard worker."Kelsey is relatively new to the sport. She swam in the summer league for a while, but she really only started hardcore training for swimming her junior year. It has been a quick progress for her. She has just begun her journey. She will be a lot faster in college."It's unfortunate Pleasant Valley doesn't have a pool, but there still is the opportunity for swimmers to reach a high level through YMCA swimming and USA swimming, and get a college scholarship."Cerbone has been swimming for nine years. It didn't take her long to figure out where she wanted to take her swimming talents or her interest in majoring in international relations."One of my swim coach's teammates when he was in school is now an assistant at West Point," Cerbone said. "That's what got me started looking into it. What really sealed my choice is when I went on one of my trips there. It was the team atmosphere and how much they could rely on each other. I really liked that."I love the whole aspect of serving my country and being part of something a lot bigger than a normal college would be."Cerbone is confident she can succeed both academically and athletically with the Black Knights' program."I feel like swimming is one of those sports where the more hard work you put into it, the better your results are," said Cerbone, who is a sprint swimmer specializing in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. "I'm definitely glad I chose to start the sport because while a lot of it has to do with talent, most of it has to do with the training."I'm definitely grateful that I have been given the opportunity to swim at the next level."Eastman was extremely excited to be a part of the events on Tuesday afternoon, especially since she has only been committed to the sport for the past two years. Within that time, she made enough of a name for herself to get an offer from Wagner.Wagner wasn't the only one interested in Eastman though. She also got interest from Long Island University, Saint Francis University and American University.But for Eastman, who excels in the freestyle sprints and the breaststroke, Wagner was definitely the one for her."As soon I got on the campus, I knew it was perfect for me," said Eastman, who was the 2015 YMCA district champion in the 50 freestyle. "Their swim coach (Colin Shannahan) was awesome. I'm just super excited."Eastman said the school's swimming program wasn't the only thing that played into her decision."I'm going into college as a business major," Eastman said. "Wagner is located in Staten Island, which is only a ferry ride away from New York City. There will be a lot of opportunities for me for internships and job experiences. That was a big reason as well."It's such an honor. I'm so excited. I have two amazing coaches who made sure that even though our high school never had a swim team, we still had a chance to swim."Wolbert was equally generous with his praise of the two swimmers.."They both have gone to YMCA Nationals," Wolbert said. "Mary has gone since she was 13. Kelsey just joined our team two years ago and she has gone both years. It has been a fun journey for both of them. It really has been."They both work very hard. They go to practice every single day. In addition, they do cross-fit, extra dryland training and morning practices. It's a large commitment that has really paid off for them."