Now that fall sports have ended, winter events like indoor track & field and swimming have come back into play. Bree Lavender(11) loves to swim, and her dedication to the sport, along with other extracurriculars like painting and rowing, landed her the coveted spot of Athlete of the Month.
Beginning at age six, Lavender began swimming for a team during the summer. Unlike many others who quickly stopped or just saw it as a summer pastime, Bree continued with the sport, earning her 10 years of experience. When asked to expound on the influences that encouraged her to continue, she said that she began with her neighborhood swim team. Lavender states, “My parents put me in it after my siblings liked it. I liked it a lot and started year round, and it was a lot of fun.”
The criteria for a well rounded athlete includes other hobbies and extracurriculars, of which Lavender has many. The venture that she continues to be the most passionate and involved in turns out to be the National Art Honor Society. All of the famous individuals featured in the bathrooms here at AFHS continue to be hand painted by fellow classmates, one of them being Lavender. While still being a hard-working swimmer and student, Lavender spends her free time every Tuesday after school painting murals. When asked about the difficulty balancing swim and NAHS, Lavender replied that it really boosted her creativity and relaxed her as well, saying, “I get to help lead, and it allows me to be creative...Its so cool that I get to do something in the school that everyone sees and will be there for a ton of years.”
Swimming on the varsity team revealed itself to be incredibly rewarding to Lavender in surprising ways. Remarking on how swimming benefits her mental health, Lavender stated that, “swimming can get your mind off of things; you can be sad and you go swim and you’ll feel better, exercising physically and mentally. Also, the water really helps when you're moving in there and you feel different floating.” Swimming has both its pros and cons as well, with the very minor con being how early Lavender has to wake up in the morning at 4:30 am. A high school swimmer has to get to the swimming center to practice at 5:30-6:30 am, then rush home and to school to begin an average day.
While Lavender’s everyday schedule seems jam-packed, it remains important to note that the community in swimming continues to be a large part of why she still participates in swim teams.. The environment in swimming can be incredibly competitive, but Lavender highlights the point that it can also be so much fun, and that every competitor and teammate supports one another over everything else. AFHS’s Swim and Dive team stays with this positive trend, with Lavender noting that the team exhibits no toxic traits, saying, “everyone is super nice and so funny. People want to get to know you, and want you to do better, and the team part is really emphasized.”
The everyday routine of Bree Lavender illustrates the multi-faceted nature of student athletes. This year, Lavender decided to continue her dedication and passion for AFHS’s Swim and Dive by running for and becoming captain. Congratulations, Bree!
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