An often overlooked sport for girls, the swim team for Camas has 37 girls on it this season. In an interview with the one of the captains, Shelby Gano, we found out what the Camas High School girls swim team.

Why did you join the swim team? When did you join?

“I joined because I’ve always loved the sport, and I’ve heard really good things about the team. I joined as a sophomore, I’m a senior now, and a captain.”

What is your favorite part of swim?

“The people for sure, they’re super supportive and really good to be around. Plus it’s really easy to be yourself when you’re with them, they’re really like a second family, even if that sounds cliche.”

What has swim taught you?

“Swim has taught me a lot about myself, which is interesting. I never really thought that I was never going to participate in a team sport, but swimming is such a happy medium. Like, we practice together, we go to meets together, and that’s super helpful because of the support, but we practice our own individual events, and we swim those individually. You’re trying to beat your own score always, and the better you do the better your entire team looks. So really, you’re one person working towards a common goal, and it is a team, but it’s a competition against yourself.”

How do you manage swim, other sports if any, and school?

“Well, managing sports is impossible, so I don’t play any. Also, I do running start, so managing that is really really easy, I just have to be on time to practices, which really isn’t hard.”

Who taught you how to swim? How old were you?

“When I was in kindergarten, I had a hot tub, and honestly, my parents didn’t watch me that much. So pretty much I just played around in the hot tub and one day I just realized that I could swim.”

Why did you learn?
“I didn’t have a reason, I just did. I really just did it for myself, and I didn’t even realize at the time.”

Do you have an inspiration, if so who?

“Swim has made me really confident in myself, because of how exposed you are and everyone is looking at you. So really, I’m my own inspiration, which is super helpful for my self-image”

Do you have any interesting stories about swimming?

“Well, first of all, one time I was practicing my diving, for better start times, and I just completely fell off of the diving block, onto the concrete, and I ended up with a concussion. It wasn’t fun, but it must have been hilarious for those watching, I’m just glad I didn’t fall into the pool after the concrete. Also, I’ve slipped in the locker room countless times, the team calls stuff like that ‘pulling a Shelby’ so whenever someone falls, I’m reminded that I’m totally clumsy.”

Have you taught anyone to swim?

“I taught my sister to swim. At the time she wanted to be a mermaid, but she couldn’t swim. After a while, I figured it would be a lot safer for her if she knew how to swim, but teaching her wasn’t easy. Swimming is a pretty natural thing, you know, fight or flight stuff. If you’re in the water and you don’t know how to swim, it’s not going to end well for you, like at all. So you have to learn quick. I wasn’t brave enough to do the ‘dad thing’ and just throw her in the water, I actually helped her learn. It took a while but in the end, it’s really worth it to know she’ll always be safe in situations where she’s going to be around water.”

If you didn’t join the swim team, how would your high school career be different?

“I would have so much time. Swim is a huge commitment, like a lot of other sports. I definitely wouldn’t be able to pass my classes if I was doing more than just swim.”

Swim, like most sports, is a great way to get connected to the people of Camas High School. The Camas girl’s swim team is a very close-knit group of girls who are very supportive of each other and welcome to anyone and everyone.