All About GT Swim Club by Angela Wharton

The best two college decisions I’ve made (that is after deciding to come to Georgia Tech) have been joining Alpha Xi Delta and the Georgia Tech Swim Club. I decided to rush as a way to meet other driven, passionate, social women and fell in love with Alpha Xi Delta, but found myself missing something in my life. After spending 3 hours everyday at the pool in high school, I missed training and competing through swimming. Mari, another Alpha Xi in my PC, was also interested in swimming in college and together we decided to sign up to go to a travel swim meet with the GTSC. From there on out, I fell in love with swim club, Mari and I became best friends, I became social media manager, and now I am the vice president of the team!

The Georgia Tech Swim Club offers a truly unique experience for college athletes. Our motto since 1995 has been “everything is optional”, allowing busy college students such as myself to balance a bustling social life, rigorous academic life, and even jobs with swimming. So many of my teammates have been able to fall in love with swimming all over again, without the pressure of mandatory practices, meets, and overtraining. Some of our best swimmers are those who decided they would never swim again after quitting their club teams, varsity teams, and even college varsity teams, but decided to take a chance with the swim club and re-discovered their passion for swimming. 

But, you don’t have to be an ex-varsity swimmer to be a part of the swim club. Our team caters to a variety of swimming abilities ranging from “I just learned how to do a flip turn” to “I could’ve gone to the olympic trials”, with multiple different intervals each day at practice. This allows for everyone to participate, grow their abilities, and swim at meets, regardless of how seriously they want to take swimming. That being said, GTSC is currently the best college swim club in the country, coming in first place at the previous three College Club Swimming Nationals. 

Due to COVID, our team was not able to host Nationals with every team as planned, but we were able to host a smaller satellite meet with swimmers from Clemson and UF at the McAuley Aquatic Center. Our team usually hosts a few invitationals throughout the year which is a super fun way to get to know swimmers from other colleges. For our January 2020 invitational, a few Alpha Xis came to watch me swim and helped time the meet. In addition to hosting meets, our team travels to other schools such as Auburn, Clemson, University of Florida, Emory, and even Ohio State. These away meets are where I have met some of my best friends, gone to random free concerts, and gotten to explore other colleges and their cultures. We also take an annual training trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida right before Nationals, where we spend the week swimming, hanging out, resting, and enjoying the beach. 

GTSC’s reach extends far beyond the lane lines of the pool. Every fall, we have tailgates and a seating block in Bobby Dodd so we can cheer on our favorite yellow jackets together. We also participate in homecoming, intramurals, and go to other GT varsity and club sporting events such as baseball, basketball, volleyball, and hockey. Our team also hosts many socials such as Thursday night Trivia, barbecues, and spirit events. Two of my best friends today I made by playing weekly trivia with the team. GTSC even ventures into the Atlanta community, attending Braves games, shooting the hooch, and picnicking at Piedmont park. My favorite example of this was being invited by Six Flags to participate in their Polar Coaster Challenge and ride the Cyclone in our swimsuits! We got to ride roller coasters for a mid-finals study break.

Here's the video of our polar coaster adventure! 

The Georgia Tech Swim Club has brought me many of my best friends, many of whom are Alpha Xis (SO to Shani, MK, Harper, Abbie, & Mari!). It has given me such a strong support system of amazing friends and a place where I can go swim off all of my worries and stresses. Because of swim club, I have been able to grow a piece of my past into a future family, and get out of my comfort zone in ways I never would’ve imagined before. If you swam in the past, I strongly encourage you to reach out to any member of the swim club or myself and get involved in some way! It’s never too late to join (one of my all time favorite GTSC members was someone who joined their last semester of their PHD) and fall back in love with swimming. If swimming isn’t your thing, I encourage you to search for an organization that makes you excited and whole-heartedly get involved!

FSDGN and TFJ always <3

Angela

Check out the GTSC website here to find more information on how to join!

Insta: @gtswimclub