Three talented senior athletes achieved greatness at the 2019 District XI Swimming Championships. Kylie Tohill, Zachary Turnitza, and Jordan Young scored 1,000 points throughout their high school sports career. Countless relays, swimming events, and hard work were needed to make this possible.

Most swimmers have a background of the sport before high school, but not in Young’s case. He started during his freshman year and continued to train to his full potential.

“I had to come every day to the pool and train as hard as I could every practice. My biggest challenge was overcoming not having a swim background before high school, unlike other people. I will continue to improve through working hard at practice every time I have it.”

According to Kylie Tohill reaching 1,000 points isn’t something she thought about in her first year of high school. She realized as a sophomore that earning the top spot at meets was needed to achieve her goals.

She said, “Coming onto the team my freshman year I didn’t really think about reaching 1,000 points senior year. Sophomore year was when I knew I had to start working harder if I really wanted to reach that 1,000 point goal. Junior year, I knew I had to get first place in almost all of my races, so that I would hopefully have enough points at the end to reach 1,000. The biggest challenge during my swimming career was having the right mindset going into each race. Before each race my first two years on the team I would doubt myself and have a negative mindset going into a race. Your training does play a part in a race, but it’s mostly mental. Last year and this season I have a positive mindset going into each race. Training and having the right mindset going into each race will help me improve.”

According to Zachary Turnitza, there are several things you need to do to receive 1,000 points. Commitment and being a hard worker are required to achieve this.

“In order to get 1,000 points in swimming, you need to do a few things. You have to be faster than your opponents. You have to be committed to the sport for an entire four years. If you are only good for your senior year, you won’t be able to score the 1,000 points because you will be in a short time span. Finally, you need to have a strong team. One thousand points is impossible without relays. I will continue to improve by working hard at practice.”

Turnitza, Young, and Tohill are inspirations to other swimmers who also have the same dreams of scoring 1,000 career points. The girls swim coach states how self discipline is vital for this milestone.

Mr. Greg Schuttler said,  “It takes an extraordinary amount of self-discipline over the course of your swimming career to be in the position to score over 1,000 career points. Swimmers who reach this milestone are truly leaders of their team who set the example for others to follow.”