In this past month, I got the opportunity to speak with senior year star swimmer Emma Quick about her final season and her lifelong career as a swimmer. Here’s what she had to say.

When asked, “What makes a person a good leader?” she responded by saying, “Being a leader means good communication and being supportive of everyone.” Emma believes that “being an athlete has built up my responsibility and has bettered my work ethic for both my education and personal fitness.” After a good win, she typically likes to celebrate with her teammates and treat herself with something good to eat. One thing that she does to distract herself from butterflies before a meet is to “have conversations with teammates or listen to music.” Emma started swimming at just age five and says that her “favorite pool to swim at is our pool here at the high school or SPIRE in Geneva, Ohio.” She claims, “As a young athlete I looked up to Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin because she swam the same events as I did as I was a kid, as well as Michael Phelps.” One word that she believes would describe herself would be “passionate.” Of course, as an athlete, she has to give up certain things for her sport. She states, “I’ve given up a few music opportunities and time with my family and friends.” Her favorite coach while swimming would have to be Coach Mo. She claims, “Coach Mo is my favorite coach for always being supportive of everyone on the team and teaching the team life lessons throughout our sport.” To wrap up this interview I asked her how her final season as a Clearfield swimmer is going. Emma says, “This season has been interesting because we have new coaches, but it’s been very fun being a senior and experiencing things differently this season. It’s also been very fun being in different events throughout the season. I’ve improved my time in a few events and we are getting ready for districts this weekend.” As you can see, this sport means everything to Emma. Go Bison!