“I started swimming when I was 9 years old. I have been swimming for about 7 years. I started my swimming career in Iola when I swam for the summer league. My grandpa taught me how to swim in his pool when I was really little. I currently swim for Ad Astra Area Aquatics in Lawrence. I swim for 1 hour and a half, 5 days a week for the whole year. My favorite events to swim are the 200 Individual Medley, the 200 Breastroke, and the 100 Freestyle and Backstroke. My swim meets are usually at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center. The past two summers I have gotten to swim at many different places. I have swam at the Olympic Trial Pool in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Mizzou Pool in Columbia. Swimming keeps me in shape and it’s a way to clear my mind when I have had a bad day. Over the past three years of swimming competitively all year around, I have learned that if you want to be good at something you have to dedicate your entire life to that one thing so you can get the outcome you want.”