Since the age of four, senior Noemi Skovierova, a member of La Salle’s swim team, has been drawn to the calmness of the water. 

Skovierova was drawn to swimming because “it kind of keeps my mind off of things,” Skovierova said. She’s been doing it for so long, and has received so much training, that to her the strokes are second nature. 

Diving into the pool has allowed her to shed daily stressors and calm her nerves. “I feel really calm because usually I don’t really think about anything else besides what I’m currently doing,” Skovierova said. “You just kind of get into the mindset of just going back and forth, so there’s not really much room to kind of think about other things which is really nice.” 

From the start of her freshman year at La Salle, Skovierova was immediately interested in the swim team. She knew it was something that she wanted to be a part of and recalls being “really excited to join,” she said. 

Now, her last year competing on the team, she is one of the few seniors remaining on the team. Skovierova said she has taken on more responsibility this year, becoming more of a leader for underclassmen. She said she always makes sure to cheer everyone on and check in to see if they’re doing okay. 

Skovierova would describe her team as “energetic,” she said. “We have a team cheer that we do before and after the meet, [to] kind of just get pumped up for the meet,” Skovierova said. 

Though Skovierova enjoys her leadership role on the team, there is an added stress of not only being accountable for herself and her own heats, but also her teammates. 

“As someone on the team that’s older and a lot of people look up to, it’s something that you have to think about a lot,” Skovierova said. She said that it can sometimes be stressful to have to worry about yourself and your teammates. 

Skovierova said that the swim team is a big part of her life, and that she appreciates everyone on the team and tries her best to connect with them. 

She enjoys that swimming is both a team and individual sport and how she is able to push herself and her skills in the pool, while also competing solo. She also enjoys the group aspect and having people to cheer on and be a part of a team with. 

The person who inspires her and pushes her the most in swimming is her coach, Mr. Paul Collins. Since he has been La Salle’s swim coach since Skovierova’s sophomore year, Mr. Collins has gotten to know her, and knows when to push her limits and challenge her, she said. 

Although Skovierova has no plans to swim in college right now, she thinks it would be a cool opportunity. “[Swimming has] been a part of my life for so long — I can’t really see myself just kind of throwing it out,” Skovierova said. However, she can see it being a lifelong hobby. 

For her, swimming has been about growth. “It has made me more goal-oriented as far as making sure to look towards the future and be able to execute on things that I want to do,” Skovierova said. “It has made me more dedicated to things in general because I’ve had to be so dedicated to swimming that it has made me involve that dedication everywhere else.” 

Swimming has taught her a lot of life lessons and provided an escape to think, or to not think, depending on what she needed in that moment. 

The best advice Skovierova could give would be to underclassmen and people interested in swimming is, “Push yourself to a point that you know you’re going to get better, but past that point, just kind of relax, just be okay with not being the complete best,” she said.