Beginning at the age of five, senior Kristi Kirchoff has been swimming in a summer league every year for North Cape Arthur Pool. When she turned six years old, she joined the Severna Park YMCA swim club, and now she currently swims for the Naval Academy Aquatic Club. Swimming is something that Kirchoff is proficient in, and next year she will be swimming at Northeastern University.
“I actually got started through my older sister, she started at a young age as well and I just tagged along to give it a try,” said Kirchoff. Growing up as a swimmer she has swam for a total of 13 years, accumulating countless hours of hard work in and out of the pool. this all began with being open to the idea of the sport as a young girl.
“I only swam for the high school team my freshman and sophomore year since my club team is a huge time commitment,” said Kirchoff. As a club swimmer there are times where the athletes have practice before and after school. In addition, the high school team practices every day except Sunday. This is clearly a large commitment especially when Kirchoff has done both high school and club swimming.
“I am committed to swim at Northeastern University in Boston. I have loved swimming for both my high school team and my club team and I can’t wait to continue in college,” said Kirchoff. The Northeastern Huskies are a well-known Women’s Swim and Dive team, coached by Roy Coates. Coates led the team to a 8-3 season which nearly matched his last years season of 9-4.
Severna Park will miss such a great swimmer; “I definitely miss my coaches and teammates but i’m excited for the college level,” said Kirchoff. Kirchoff’s moving on will be a loss, but at least Northeastern will gain an amazing athlete. Northeastern is a Division 1 team, enabling Kirchoff to develop her skills even further in college.