The final alarm is about to sound for HSE girls swim and dive senior Audrey Crawford. With a swimming career starting at the age of 5, her high school season was one that has been a goal for over a decade. As her season comes to an end, the future of Audrey’s swimming career is coming up fast. Luckily for Audrey, she’s already committed to D1 swimming school, Auburn University in Alabama. Planning for this change of pace is an exciting and nerve-wracking process for Audrey. She says,

“If I said that I wasn’t nervous that’d be a lie, but obviously it’s going to be hard balancing school and swim, but especially here my coaches have prepared me for it. With training and I’m in a bunch of college classes here, it’s just really prepared me for next year.”

This new change is an exciting one for Audrey. Swimming competitively towards something that has a bigger affect than high school level, is a very exciting process for Audrey. Even with this huge and successful future with swim for Audrey, swim wasn’t always her first choice.

“I hated swimming, I tried out a bunch of different sports and my sister was a swimmer so my parents assumed I would be a swimmer too. I tried out soccer, gymnastics, but it just wasn’t for me.”

Swimming wasn’t always Audrey’s first choice, but it showed to be the best choice for her. With a vigorous future in swim, it’s clear that swim was Audrey’s best choice. Knowing that swimming was the choice for her, deciding what college would best fit her swimming career was an easy choice.

“I just had a feeling about Auburn, I walked on campus, and I was like ‘ok I’m going here’,” Audrey says.

It was clear to see that Auburn is going to be the best option for Audrey, knowing that Auburn has so much to offer for Audrey and her career. As Audrey’s final high school swimming season comes to an end, giving it her all has been very important for Audrey.

“Even if these meets are my last, I still want to put in as much effort as I can, not just for myself but for my team,” Audrey says.

Saying goodbye to the team is the hardest part for Audrey. Throughout her entire high school swimming career, her team is what’s made it all worth it.

“I’m going to miss my team so much; I know on senior night I’m going to cry like a baby. I’m not ready to leave them,” Audrey says.

There’s a lot of changes coming Audrey’s way, but with the help from the team and coaches, the changes aren’t going to be as tough as she thought.

“I’m excited for my future in swim, even if it means leaving my team and family behind.”