Columbus East alumni swimmers Lizzy Frazier, left, and Mason Curry leap off starting blocks for the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay during the inaugural alumni swim meet at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The meet was organized by Columbus East swimmer Claire Brooks to raise money to renovate the breakfast room used by East swimmers.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Claire Brooks started off 2023 by gathering former Columbus East swimmers Tuesday afternoon in the school’s natatorium.
Brooks, a senior swimmer for the Olympians, put on an alumni swim meet as part of her senior project to help raise money to renovate the natatorium’s “Breakfast Room.”
It was more than just an ordinary meet, however. It was a way for the alumni who haven’t had the experience to get back in the pool since graduation to have fun with their fellow friends and alumni. It was a great atmosphere and camaraderie with some former swimmers getting thrown into some events that hadn’t swam in before. One of the more interesting events was the 50-yard corkscrew, which involves rotating doing the freestyle and the backstroke.
At the end of the event, Brooks gave all of the alumni participants goodie bag as a thank you to everyone who came. Overall, it was a memorable experience for everyone involved.
“Everything went really well. All of the swimmers who were here had a really great attitude and were all happy to be here,” Brooks said. “It went really well. Everyone was in great spirits. They all loved it here. It was super exciting.”
Brooks was a multi-sport athlete growing up, playing volleyball, basketball, softball up until high school. She decided to give swimming a try since she’s been swimming at the lake near her home her entire life. Realizing it was her calling, she focused her high school career on swimming.
There were a dozen former Olympian swimmers participating Tuesday. One of them was Cortney VanLiew. Even though they never swam together in high school, Brooks and VanLiew are neighbors.
VanLiew, a 2017 East graduate, was a multi-sport athlete in high school, participating in volleyball, swimming and track. She went on to play volleyball at Florida Gulf Coast and was a former ASUN Volleyball Player of the Year. She owns the East girls swimming school records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events and was part of the school-record 200 freestyle relay team.
“It’s definitely been a long time, and this was definitely a great reason to come back,” VanLiew said. “It was really fun to get to swim in the pool. I walked into the locker room, and there were a lot of memories seeing everything. It’s really nice to know the swim program still means a lot to the people who are in it.”
Brooks’ initial goal for the event was to raise $500. However, she has gotten many responses online and from her alumni meet and already has more than tripled her goal to $1,785 as of Tuesday. Brooks is anticipating that number will continue to grow in the next few days. Most of the money used will be adding shelves and a sink to the breakfast room, with any leftover money to help out the swim team’s expenses.
After graduation, Brooks plans to attend Indiana University to study nursing. She said she had some offers from smaller schools, but said she’s ready to become a nursing student. She hasn’t ruled swimming for one of the club teams at IU, though.
Whether it’s for a future senior project or not, Brooks is hopeful this can kick-start an annual traditional of trying to hold an alumni swim meet every year.
“I’ve learned so many lessons in swimming that will definitely carry me through my life,” Brooks said. “I’d love to come back and join. I would really love it to be an annual thing. It would be really fun for someone else to pick it up next year.”
