A whistle blows.
Water splashes.
People cheer.
Excitement rises as the swimmers blow through the water at immense speeds. One slip up could cause them to fall behind in the race. Despite all of this, freshman swimmer Gavin Wiley doesn’t seem to mind; he’s learned to adapt to the pressure of swim meets.
Wiley has been swimming for over six years now, first starting out learning how to swim and eventually getting to 29.98 second 50-meter freestyle.
“I started swimming at swimming lessons at a young age, and I just never really stopped. I’ve just been doing it my whole life,” Wiley said.
Wiley has already gotten a taste of the competitiveness of high school athletics as he was a member of the varsity water polo team. However he is still excited to see how high school swim will be different from what he is used to.
“This is my second [high school] sport, after water polo and so far it’s been a lot a lot of fun,” Wiley said.
Outside of high school swim season, Wiley participates in club swim. While most is the same between high school and club, there are a couple differences between the two.
“There’s a lot less events, a lot less distance, so no 200 meter fly,” Wiley said. “Everything’s a lot faster, a normal club swim meet is over two days, and [high school] is maybe three hours max.”
In Wiley’s opinion, your supporters can be a huge factor in how you perform in sports, friends and family showing up to your events can encourage you to grow as an athlete.
“I started slow, I got faster. I’ve had a lot of friends through school and they’ve supported me a lot, and overall that’s helped me a lot as a swimmer,” Wiley said. “My parents [are my biggest supporters], they’ve always been there for me.”
Wiley believes he still has a ways to go in swimming, hoping to improve on endurance and technique.
“My overall endurance, and probably a little bit of tweaking on technique,” Wiley said.
According to Wiley, personal goals can encourage an athlete to work harder during their respective season.
“My goals for this season are to get a sub minute on my 100-meter fly and improve my freestyle,” Wiley said.
Even though Wiley’s high school career has only just begun, he already has ambitions for the rest of his high school journey.
“I hope to do well in swimming and in high school [academics] and I hope to do well in my AP classes,” Wiley said.
