Five years ago, freshman Sidney Lefranc took on swimming to keep her active after being born with extra bones in her foot, making her unable to run. Since then, swimming has become a community where Lefranc feels supported and included, and where she strives to get better.

Lefranc is on La Salle’s varsity swim team, plays guitar, and is helping to raise llamas with her local 4-H program, all while achieving an overall 4.0 GPA for the first semester. 

Along with swimming with La Salle, Lefranc also swims with Mount Hood Aquatics. 

“[I’ve swam with Mount Hood Aquatics for] three and a half [years]. [When] I swim for club, I swim the mile, the 200 fly, the 200 free, 100 fly, and 100 free,” she said.

She loves swimming with both her club and La Salle because they both offer different amounts of competitiveness. 

“[Swimming] with La Salle is a lot more light hearted and it’s really fun, [and] there’s not as much pressure as club,” she said. “When I’m with club swimmers, I’m with people who… [have] been swimming their whole lives… [and] I’m the youngest girl in my squad… [and] everyone is really fast.”

Lefranc enjoys the swimming community because “it’s really inviting. It doesn’t matter what age or grade you’re in, or what gender everyone [is]. Everyone kind of supports each other.” 

As a freshman, she has had to learn to handle La Salle’s workload, while continuing to do the activities she loves.

“[The transition to La Salle was] awesome,” she said. “I didn’t really like middle school that much. I just didn’t have a good time. So, coming to La Salle was great because I have friends now, and the community is really nice.”

Lefranc’s favorite class at La Salle is Physics, because the class is not like anything she has ever taken before.

“I just love science [and] I’ve never learned anything like [what we have learned in Physics] before,” she said. “Everytime I go to that class it’s something new and I love that.”

Lefranc is hoping to take Honors Chemistry next year, along with Honors Algebra 2. Although this may make for a difficult schedule, Lefranc is ahead of the game and has been planning out her days since 6th grade to ensure she can get things done, “I plan my entire day down to the minute,” she said. 

Time management is something Lefranc thinks that she has become better at thanks to swimming.

“[The biggest gain I’ve received from swimming is] probably a sense of order in my life,” she said. “I can do one thing after the next and I’m really good at time management.”

During the summer of 2019, she was able to represent Mount Hood Aquatics at a regional meet in California, something she was honored to be part of.

When Lefranc isn’t spending time in the water, she enjoys going on hikes, using her creativity to concoct drinks such as flavored coffees, and visiting a farm out in the middle of nowhere, to spend time with animals. 

As for advice to her other classmates, Lefranc emphasizes the importance of good time management skills. “Don’t go on social media all the time because it’ll suck away your time, and try to get some sleep,” she said. 

Lefranc plans on continuing to swim throughout high school, both with La Salle, and her club.

“It’s kind of a lifestyle now,” she said. “I train six days a week, and I’m always at the pool. It’s just what I know.”