Gananda sophomore, Sydney Richards, recently secured the Section V Class B championship in the 100 Yard Breaststroke at the sectional finals on November 5, 2022. She brings home the first swimming sectional title for the merged Gananda-Wayne swim team. 

With a time of 1:11.76, Richards secured the win in the final race and set a personal best record.  Now she has her sights on breaking the breaststroke school record of 1:09.9 set by Alex Cunningham in 2013.

 When asked about advice to give other swimmers, Richard says, “Trust yourself. When you get nervous, when you feel the pressure of this sport, you’ve got to trust yourself.  You can do it.”

 She credits her mom, Dani Richards, who is also her current varsity swim coach, with getting her into the YMCA swim program early at the age of three. After several years participating in the YMCA program, she jumped into the youth competitive swimming program on the Gananda Racing Aquatic Team (GRATS). It was through this program that she began to realize her fondness of swimming. 

“No matter how bad of a day I’ve had, being with my swim team and doing what I love, I can’t have a bad day in swimming,” explains Richards. “It’s my thing. It makes me feel good.”

 Richards has a couple more years to continue to hone her skills and we look forward to seeing what the future brings.