I have always loved the water. Ever since I can remember, I have been swimming. My mom used to take me to open swimming times for toddlers at the high school pool and before I knew it, I was in swimming lessons from about when I was three to five years old. During this time, I really fell in love with swimming. It had always been an escape for me. One memory that really sticks out to me is when we were learning how to swim underwater in swim lessons. The instructor would throw diving rings into the shallow end and all of the swimmers would race to see who could get the most. I had gotten most of the rings and the lesson instructor decided that I needed more of a challenge. She then proceeded to throw pennies into the deep end of the pool, which was twelve feet, and that’s a little scary for a five year old.
I knew that I wanted to swim competitively. Lucky for me, there was a club swim team that practiced at the same pool I had been swimming in forever. I joined the Olympia Country Swimmers (OCS) when I was six years old. I was the kind of kid that always liked to try new things but swimming had always been there. I stuck with OCS all throughout grade school and middle school. Unfortunately, as a high school swimmer, you can’t swim for any club teams. To be honest, that didn’t bother me as much because I was still able to do the thing I love.
This is my friend Lizzie and I at the high school girls’ swimming sectionals this year!
I also met a lot of my best friends through swimming, and a lot of them are still my friends today. Swimming has taught me how to follow my passions. One of my role models in swimming, at the Olympic level at least, is Katie Ledecky. She broke the 400 meter freestyle world record at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Swimming is what got me interested in becoming a marine biologist and oceanographer. Well, that and Shark Week. I encourage you to follow what you’re passionate about and try new things. It is never too late!
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