Greenville鈥檚 Emily Armen swimming towards her goal of a scholarship
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Emily Armen is 16 years old and has been swimming for 11 years.
She started off at East Carolina Aquatics, she then went to DH Conley Swim Team School, and now she is in the 10th grade and swimming on the DH Conley high school swim team.
Emily has some very aggressive goals for her swimming career. She would like to swim at a division 1 university and qualify for US Olympic Trials.
Those are very challenging goals mostly because of the time commitment. The team practices 2-4 hours a day, 6 days a week, so Emily must always be organized and on top of her schoolwork.
Her parents are always there with good advice and support telling her to enjoy the process and not be so focused on the outcomes. In swimming you can’t always drop time and not every swim is going to go exactly how you want it to.
Her Coach Casey is also a huge source of encouragement, always telling Emily that it’s all in the little things; races are won or lost in the things other people don’t necessarily notice.聽 For example, she missed the wall in a big race once.聽 The goal is to come to the wall as fast as possible and if you don鈥檛 hit it, you must execute the rest of the race as best you can.
Emily is very strategic about her races.聽 She does not have a pregame ritual per se, but she always likes to take time with her coach before each event to discuss the best strategy to win.
The part of swimming that Emily loves the most are the relationships that she has been able to develop with her teammates, coaches, and swimmers all across North Carolina.
Being a member of a team has taught her how important close relationships are. She explains, 鈥淵our teammates are the only ones who truly understand what your life is like. You laugh together, encourage each other, push one another, travel together, and endure together鈥�.
Swimming is not Emily鈥檚 only love.聽 She also likes hanging out with her friends, going to the beach, and pretty much anything active and outdoors. She loves to travel and see new places as well.
Emily has begun a very successful swimming career at DH Conley and is truly on her way to achieving her goals of swimming at a division 1 university and going to the Olympics. 聽Let鈥檚 remember to support and stay involved with our local athletes; we have so many talented young men and women in our community!
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