The News-Press Athlete of the Week sponsored by Elevate Home Services winner for Oct. 21-26 was Cape Coral swimmer Emma Best. The senior captured nearly 49% of the votes. To earn her nomination, Best captured individual district titles in the 200 free and 100 fly at the Class 3A-District 8 meet and contributed to the Seahawks’ winning relays.
Question: When and why did you get into swimming?
Best: I started about when I was 7. I want to say maybe 6, and my parents put me in it because I tried every other sport and I wouldn’t shut up talking, and they wanted some way to get me to lose energy really fast, so they put me in swim, and it worked. I would get to sleep really good at night, and I wouldn’t bother them. And so they loved it, and I kind of just fell in love with the sport.
What’s been an accomplishment that you are most proud of as a swimmer?
Best: I would say, personally, I would say just moving from Illinois to here my sophomore year and being a part of a new swim team, and just everything in general with a big change, and so I’m very proud of how I’ve adjusted. As a team, I’m proud of how every season, even though we lose old swimmers, we still stay together as a team and work really hard, and we still have that same environment of motivating and pushing each other.