Despite being kept out of the pool, she still came to every practice and helped send off swimmers on intervals and encouraged her teammates, says her coach Mike Peters.

“The situation would have left many swimmers upset and bored during a practice, but Elizabeth found ways to positively impact her team even as a nonparticipant in the water,” Mr. Peters said. “She came to practice each day with a positive attitude and constantly had a smile on her face.”

Since being cleared to swim, Elizabeth’s enthusiasm has continued and she serves as a role model for other athletes. The girls’ JV team won the Candy Cane Invitational recently, with Elizabeth swimming two of the more difficult events and scoring 11 points for the team.

Mr. Peters says Elizabeth’s performance in and out of the pool represents all of Collegiate’s values, especially community.  

“She looks for ways to make all those around her better and treats each and every person with the same respect, kindness and fairness,” he said.