Swimming, school, social life… would you be able to handle it all?

Inspired by famous swimmers like Katie Ledecky and Hannah Aspden, Senior-Keegan Knott- is Warren Township ́s very own Paralympic star. Managing swim practice, keeping a healthy social scene, and her grades this high school career has had to be one of the hardest things to do. I just had to know how she did it.
Keegan said her love for swimming began ̈since I[she} was a baby ̈. She ̈always loved the water and would go all the time ̈ with her family. But it was around the age of 9 that she decided to quit dance and start competitive swimming because {she} wanted to find a sport {she} knew {she} would love ̈. After that, her parents found her a team and she ̈hasn’t stopped since then.”

With a mixture of swimming and just life stuff on her plate, finding the motivation to keep pushing must be quite challenging. For Keegan, her main motivation is ̈the goals I{she} keeps in mind…like getting back on the National B Team and hopefully making the World Championships Team ̈. One of her more ambitious goals is to ̈eventually start a NCAA Division for disabled athletes ̈. Some years from now, we all hope to see her very own division on TV!  Though she has accomplished so many great things, things most people couldn’t even dream of achieving, downfalls are a part of every success story. Keegan said one of the hardest
parts of her swimming journey was, ironically, one of her greatest accomplishments. ̈Coming back after Tokyo ̈. She elaborated, explaining that ̈coming back after such a high point in my{her} life was something that was super difficult because it was like, ́well where do I go from now. ́ Like, ́What do I wanna do? Do I want to keep doing this? Do I want to put in all of that hard work over and over, continuously, just because it was so mentally draining ́ ̈. Reaching such high goals can lead you to feel empty or lost afterwards. It also did not help that once she returned, she was held to such high standards by her coaches. She talked about how the coaches would ̈have this whole expectation of me{her} being a leader now ̈ This kind of pressure could lead anyone to want to quit. But luckily, she bounced back from this mindset and realized what she wanted to do and got past those mental blocks.
To begin her journey on becoming a professional swimmer and eventually starting her own NCAA division for disabled athletes, Keegan will be D1 while attending Northern Arizona University as part of the 2027 graduating class. And she is currently a part of the Pleasant Prairie Patriots swim team in Wisconsin.  For Keegan, swimming is more than just a sport. Out of the water, she feels that ̈there is so much I{she} can ́t do… Especially as a teeneager because they want to fit in ̈. This struggle to be like those around her started as young as Middle school when she would, ̈always do everything in gym, even if I{she} would be hurting myself{herself} just to fit in ̈. But in the water, Keegan says swimming is ̈very freeing because I am{she is} away from all the physical restraints that are put on me{her} in day to day life.”