The Joys of Swimming
By: Ciara Peters - Student Writer

This fall I decided I would try varsity swimming instead of soccer, which I have been playing since I was probably about 5. I was very afraid to try it at first because Ellicottville has a joint swim program with Franklinville and I knew no one. I quickly learned all the girls were very nice and warm hearted.

Swimming is good for an all body work out, because it is not as much stress on the body as running or walking. The only impact is diving into the water and when doing strokes. It does start to hurt mid season when you have very intense 2 hour practices every day.

Everyone thinks swimming isn’t that hard and any one could do it. That is very un-true! I thought I was going to be really good and fast, when I got there and saw some the skill of the girls my mouth about fell open! I have improved a lot! I dropped at least 20 seconds in my 50 free time (2 lengths of the pool freestyle) which is very good for a beginner.

We had 2 awesome coaches Anne Clayson and Rick Bull,. Thanks to them we have great strokes and great sportsmanship. Though we didn’t win any meets we were constantly being awarded for our sportsmanship by cheering for the other team and things like that. Even though looking at the score board doesn’t show it we really did win in our hearts and individual scores.

There were 6 Ellicottville swimmers: myself Breanna Coolidge, Kaitlyn Crowley, Erin Bohn, Emily Timkey, and Ashley Wilson. All of us swam sprints, Kaitlyn swam mid distance, and Ashley was a diver.

I can’t wait till next years swim season starts and I can see all my great friends again! I strongly encourage everyone that enjoys swimming and hard work to join this awesome sport!