Due to the lack of a pool, swimming is a sport that often gets overlooked at Bellarmine. But in reality, many Lions paddle their way to other high schools in search for a swim program. Bellarmine student-athletes can be found swimming at Curtis, Foss, Gig Harbor, Stadium and Wilson.

Junior Kate Owen has found herself swimming for Foss High School for the past three seasons. Her favorite part about swimming is “the water, it’s really fun to be in the water.”

Junior Johnny Armstrong has created a love for competitive swimming
over the past ten years. He swims at Stadium High School during their season, but competes for a club team year-round. Armstrong said, “Swimming is tough and hard, and it’s a major commitment. But the real reason I swim is for the camaraderie and the team effort.”

Sophomore Liam Casey-Minnick has been swimming competitively since he was eight years old. He swims for the Stadium Tigers, and helped his team win their first meet of the year in December. CaseyMinnick loves “the team atmosphere; there’s a lot of yelling and excitement. It’s a lot of fun.” He agrees with Armstrong, saying that swimming “is hard, but fun.” The Tigers’ swimming season is in the winter, during December and stretching into January.

When all three studentathletes were asked if they would switch to swimming for Bellarmine if the school had a pool, their responses were very similar. Owen said that “Swimming [at Bellarmine] would be great, but I’ve bonded with my team, I wouldn’t want to swim here because of my teammates.” Armstrong agrees; he “would stay at Stadium” due to the friendships that he has created while swimming for the Tigers.

Casey-Minnick said, “If you asked me freshman year, I would’ve said that
I would swim at Bellarmine. But now, I have bonded with my team and wouldn’t want to leave them.”

All three athletes would feel like they would let their teams down if they were to switch hypothetically to swimming at Bellarmine.