This week’s notebook features swimmers/divers from Bensalem, Souderton & Wissahickon.
National Conference
Bensalem’s Wiley hanging tough - It’s been a rough season for Jess Wiley.
But the Bensalem junior has gutted it out despite a bad right shoulder.
“I have a rotator cuff injury and tendinitis so it’s been hard to swim,” she said.
She has been doing physical therapy.
“This is my third time going back to PT for this so they’re saying I’ll do two months of PT and then if it doesn’t feel any better it may be time for surgery.
“I’m just trying to get through the season and then I have one more after that so if I do need surgery it’s not going to happen until after next season.”
She also has tendinitis in her left shoulder.
“You just live with it,” said Wiley, who also plays volleyball for the Owls.
She has been swimming competitively for about six years.
“I did swim lessons when I was younger and then when my parents wanted to sign me up for a team I could swim so that’s what I signed up for,” she said. “It was a good decision. I made a lot of friends.”
She hasn’t chosen a college yet.
“I’m still looking and I’m also not sure of a major,” she said. “Right now I’m thinking of PT or sports therapy but I’m keeping an open mind.”
The Owls did not win a dual meet this year.
“We have so few swimmers that we know going in we’re not going to score enough points to win a dual meet, but as long as everyone on the team tries their best and works as a team it’s fine,” she said.
Her sister Natalie is a sophomore on the team.
“Sometimes you get annoyed with each other but it’s nice to have that built in friend on the team and teammate at home,” she said.
Continental Conference
Souderton’s Rest making most of final season - Tori Rest’s career as a diver will be short.
But very sweet.
The Souderton senior started out as a gymnast at age six, reaching Level 7 before breaking her hand three times forced her to re-think her choice of sport.
“Everyone told me to try diving,” she said. “It took me two years to finally do it and now looking back I’m sorry I didn’t start sooner.“Part of me misses gymnastics but then I know a lot of people who still do it and that’s all they can do because it’s such a commitment. I have a chance to do other things.”
In addition to diving she also dances.
“I do ballet, jazz and hip hop but not during the season because of time commitments,” she said.
Rest injured her back the beginning of the season and missed a couple of weeks.
“That was a setback but you do the best you can,” she said.
A District One qualifier last year, she has not yet qualified this season.
“I have a chance to do that at the league meet,” she said. “If I don’t make it but I still dive well, I’ll be happy with that.”
The conference championship meet is 11 dives, as opposed to a dual meet competition, which is only six.
“We went to an invitational at Parkland so that was a great preparation for me because it was 11 dives,” she said.
She will attend Penn State and is undecided within the field of engineering.
“I really wanted to go to Penn State,” she said. “It was the only school I applied to.”
She will not continue her diving career there.
“This is the end for me and while I’m very excited about my future I am sad to be leaving the team,” she said.
American Conference
Wissahickon’s Wild hooked on swimming - Swimming has always been Kelly Wild’s top sport.
But the Wissahickon junior has tried her hand at some others.
“I played lacrosse, tennis and soccer,” she said. “But once I got to high school I focused on swimming.
“I’ve been swimming since I was four years old and I guess it just runs in the family. My mom was a swimmer, her whole family swam, so they just put me in the pool.”
When she isn’t in the pool, Wild can be found cheering for fellow Trojans at a variety of sporting events as a member of Wissahickon’s Fans Club.
“We travel to sporting events and try to get a lot of kids involved in sports,” she said. “They get to one or two swim meets every season which of course I can’t do because I’m in the meet, but we’ve been able to get someone to every sport.”
She is keeping her college options open but is looking to go to a larger school.
“I’m not sure what my major will be, I’m still exploring that,” she said. “Maybe something in business.
“I think I want to swim but I’d have to find the right team. There’s definitely got to be a balance between academics and swimming.”
As a freshman, she swam the 200 individual medley, but a shoulder injury made the butterfly leg difficult, so she concentrated on freestyle.
She is fully recovered and the IM is an option again.
“I see a lot of potential for myself in this, especially with the breaststroke,” she said. “That’s something I need to improve on that will really help me drop time.
“I’ve been training really hard and hopefully good things will happen for me.”
- Log in to post comments
