Jackson-Milton student Madelyn Bell is the only swimmer at the high school. Her coach is Terry Patterson. She is a sophomore and has been swimming for 11 years. Madelyn is a two year letter winner.

Madelyn said, “At the beginning of the season, I was nervous of what to expect for the season and was hoping to get some good times.”

She spent a lot of time practicing for all of her meets. She had practiced multiple times a week and hours to prepare.

Throughout the season her feelings about the season were becoming more optimistic, “In the middle of the season, I was feeling more confident about the rest of the season.”

All of her preparation for the year was for her to make it to districts. Sectionals determined if she went to districts. Madelyn placed 9th out of 81 for her 50 freestyle at sectionals and placed 9th out of 46 for her 100 breaststroke at sectionals. At sectionals she reached her best time for her 50 freestyle at 26.87 seconds.

Going into districts Madelyn explained, “Before districts I was very anxious but ready to swim as hard as I could.”

At districts she ended up placing 22nd out of 32 for her 50 freestyle and 15th out of 32 in her 100 breaststroke. She also reached her best 100 breaststroke at districts with a time of 1:15:02. Madelyn had a great season and ended it off with some of her best performance times.

She said, “At the end of the season I was happy that my hard work was paying off and was thinking of ways to do better next year.”

Madelyn Bell will be going into her next season with a very optimistic attitude.  Great work!