Freshman Jay Tavane started learning how to swim when she was two years old and began competitive swimming at the age of five. She has had a passion for swimming ever since, which led her to join the swim team during the fall sports season and try water polo for the first time for the upcoming sports season.
“My older brother started swimming before me, so I was naturally drawn to the sport by seeing him compete at all of his swim meets. Once I was old enough, my parents put me into competitive swimming as well,” Tavane said. “I always thought water polo was such a cool sport because it combined swimming with other sports like basketball and soccer. I saw videos of people playing water polo online, and I thought that it would be a really cool experience to try it out.”
As a young kid, Tavane’s parents put her into swimming lessons to learn the basics of swimming for safety, but after her lessons on basic swimming, she realized that she had a passion for being in the water and swimming.
“I really like swimming because it’s more of a self-focused sport. You may be on a team, but you still swim by yourself, and that’s what sets it apart from other sports,” Tavane said. “Because in most sports, you’re on a team with other people.”
It’s a great idea to explore new things as a freshman by joining clubs, taking accelerated classes, and playing sports. Tavane is also in many clubs, such as Huron’s Asian Pacific Exchange (APEX) club, Business Professionals of America (BPA), and Health Occupational Students of America (HOSA), on top of schoolwork and band, which can sometimes make her a bit busy, even leading to it being hard to balance and manage time. When you play a sport, it can be really time-consuming and is also often about teamwork, with teammates depending on you to participate and be present, so it can be hard to commit to doing a sport and other extracurricular activities.
“Balancing extracurricular activities with my schoolwork can be exhausting and hard to do at times, but that’s what part of being a student athlete is,” Tavane said. “I try to balance all of my work by trying to have an organized schedule and dedicating a different task or activity to each day of the week. Since I didn’t do marching band this year and the swim season is over, my schedule has been a lot more open than it normally is, so it’s a lot easier to manage my time.”
There are many benefits to playing sports and participating in clubs. Playing sports can help increase mental skills such as focus, memory, and problem-solving, which can help with school. It also teaches many other skills that are needed in life, such as discipline and time management, and helps reduce the stress that comes with school. Besides school, it helps with improving health and muscular strength.
“When I was younger, my parents put me into swimming lessons originally just so I could learn the basics of swimming, but after a while, I realized that I actually really enjoyed being in the water and swimming,” Tavane said.
During her almost ten years of swimming, Tavane has faced many challenges, big and small, but lessons also come along with the challenges she’s faced.
“I think one of the main challenges I face while swimming is managing speed while swimming. I tend to use up all of my energy on less important things at swim meets, like warm-up, so I’m all out of energy by the time I have to swim my actual events,” Tavane said. “But swimming has also taught me how to be persistent. It’s a sport that requires you to manage your energy; if you use it up too quickly, you won’t make it to the end of the race. This has helped me learn that achieving goals often takes time and effort and that you have to pace yourself. Swimming has shown me the importance of resilience and the value of steady progress.”
When playing a sport, it’s also very important to enjoy doing it, because it can affect the way you perform while doing your sport. When it comes to Tavane, she loves to swim because of how free she feels while swimming.
“There’s something really refreshing about being in the water, and I really appreciate how it allows me to relax and clear my mind. It’s also a great workout because swimming is a really low-impact exercise,” Tavane said.“Whether I’m swimming for fun or for training, it always brings me joy.”
Throughout Tavane’s long journey of swimming, she has made many friends and had many supporters who have been cheering her along the way, with one of her biggest supporters being her brother.
“My biggest supporter in swimming is definitely my older brother. He stopped doing swimming a long time ago, but he still supports me through all of my swim meets and practices and encourages me to do better. Even when I don’t do my best at a swim meet, he will still congratulate me and motivate me,” Tavane said.
Tavane hopes to continue her journey throughout high school, and maybe beyond, since it means a lot to her after swimming for more than half of her life. Tavane shares that swimming holds a great value for her, and is excited for the memories that await her in the future.
