SHAWNEE, Okla. (KFOR) – Celebrations aren’t stopping in Shawnee for the girls swim team after their big win at the 5-A State Championship meet. The win makes it the third year in a row they’ve been champions.
“We told them last weekend…or last Thursday and Friday, let’s take care of business…and that’s what they did,” said Valarie Colburn, a coach for the Shawnee High School swim team.
Friday’s win made it the third time they’ve pulled out a win.
“I kind of momentarily collapsed honestly, like I kind of dropped to my knees just praying thanking God, it still doesn’t really feel real,” said Clara Timmons, a senior on the team.
The coaches and athletes said this year was harder than others. Their pool was damaged by the April tornado in 2023.
“I realized that my senior season wasn’t going to look like anything I wanted it to. I just sat there and cried on my bed because everything that I cared about was affected by this tornado,” said Timmons.
So, they were forced to come up with a new game plan if they wanted to win.
“It was like challenge after challenge, we went through probably three pools,” said Gracyn Simpson, a junior on the team.
“We made contact with the Citizen Pottawatomie Nation, the Fire Lake wellness center, which was a ten yard by ten yard pool,” said Colburn.
This team of dedicated athletes pushed through every obstacle all the way to the end.
“Kids are resilient. They adapted. They believed in what we had planned for them all in an unknown,” said Bob McNeil, a Shawnee High School swim coach.
“We believed in our coaches and believed that if we put in the work right now and gave it 100% of what we got, the results will come later,” said Simpson.
Those results came true, with a massive win for the team Friday night at the 5-A State Championships.
“We’re planning on doing this again. Three …three is not enough. We want four,” said Colburn.
The team is hopeful the pool they normally train in will be repaired by next season, but if not they said they’re ready for whatever comes their way and pull out another win next year.
