Start of Swimming: “I started swimming in 5th grade, but I didn’t start getting competitive with it until freshman year. My dad was a swimmer and water polo player in high school. Once I came back to it in 5th grade, I decided that was the main thing that I wanted to do.”

The Motivation: “For me, motivation comes from me wanting to get better. I like beating my times.   I know that I want to get better, so for me it’s just working hard to prove to myself that I can do it improve.”

Best Race:“My best event is probably is the 100 Butterfly, and my state time for that is 1 minute and 6.3 seconds. I am about 2/10ths of a second away from making state, so that’s my goal.”

Learning in the Water: “I’ve learned that you can do what you put your mind to, you get out what you put in, so if you’re working really hard at practice, you come every night, and you want to improve,then you will. You  have to believe that you can, then push yourself to do it.

      Outside of swimming…More swimming

“When I’m not swimming competitively, I’m back in the pool giving swimming lessons. I have a pool at my house and that’s where I teach, so that’s what most of my summer is made up of.”

      Overcoming challenges

“ I think for me it is just remembering that swimming isn’t everything, like I am planning to do a lot more things with my life, and this is just one little moment. It has been nice to have a good coach, she pushes me really hard. If I don’t do my best,  she’s not angry or upset.   She’s the one who is telling me that it’s “ok” and that she knows I can do it. It’s nice to have a coach that encourages you when you don’t get the results you wanted.”

      Stress Relieving

“I think just swimming is a stress reliever for me, in general.  If I’m having a bad day, if I have a test I’m worried about, swimming is the way I get my mind off of things because I’m focusing on something else. It’s like getting my physical energy out that relieves my mental stress.”