Girls’ swim and dive has had major success recently, especially in diving. This has drawn attention to the team, more specifically the diver who broke both pool and school records, freshman Bailey Monette.
Monette has broken two pool records along with BSM diving records. She originally started diving when she was 12 years old due to a gymnastics injury and has done it ever since. For the past two and a half years, Monette has been diving for Minnesota Diving Academy, a club team that is conducted at the University of Minnesota.
Bailey is a rookie on the BSM Girls Swim and Dive Team and she has quickly made her mark. The specific record she recently broke was the 2011 BSM school record and the Mound Westonka pool record. She did this by scoring a very impressive 258.35. Soon after, she broke the Chanhassen pool record and her own personal best by scoring 278.90. “You always want to break records so it’s great to break them but at every meet, all I want to do is beat my personal best,” Monette said.
You always want to break records so it’s great to break them but at every meet, all I want to do is beat my personal best
— Bailey Monette
Monette’s accomplishments have caused excitement throughout both the girls’ swim and dive team and the school. Breaking records doesn’t happen very often, which is seen as a BSM diver hasn’t broken the record since 2011. Her records are especially impressive because they have beat pool records, meaning they are the best scores the pools have seen. “We haven’t really had a lot of swimmers break records. So it’s really surprising and a big accomplishment for our school,” junior swimmer Natalie Lamers said.
In past years, BSM has not had the strongest diving team to accompany the swimmers, so Monette is changing that stigma. Diving can be critical for winning meets overall so the enthusiasm the team has for Monette’s successes is due to her incredible skills. “Watching her dive is so entertaining and it’s so impressive. Every time I watch her I am on the edge of my seat,” senior swimmer Audrey Taylor said.
This year’s swim team is excited about what else Monnette will accomplish the rest of the season and in the future. With her success, the team is hoping to have more divers join the team. “She’s our first very accomplished diver on our team and we hope to get more,” Lamers said.