Day continues her family's swim team legacy at Sehome

Leah Day is the last in a long line of family swimmers and will be topping off the local legacy by competing in three events at the Class 2A State Girls’ Swimming Championships on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14, at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.

Day, a senior and co-captain on Sehome High School’s swim team, is the youngest of seven. Five of her older siblings swam under the coaching of Don Helling at Sehome, as she has.

“Don definitely held me to a higher level because he saw what my siblings could do,” she said. “But I really think if I hadn’t had that push from Don and from my siblings, I don’t think I would have been as good as I am.”

This will be Day’s fourth state championship since entering high school. She has swam competitively since she was 6 years old.

“Growing up with so many siblings was like living on a team,” she said. “So going to be on a team for swimming, it wasn’t that big of a switch for me in my life because I was used to being with so many people with different personalities and having to learn to get along with them.”

Graduation is coming closer and Day wants to spent as much time as possible simply enjoying her experience on Sehome’s swim team before she goes on to take a gap year after high school. When she gets around to going to college, she says, she will not swim competitively because she cannot imaging being on any team other than Sehome.

“The girls I have been swimming with the last four years are so dear to me,” Day said. “This team has been a family and stayed so consistent and been so supportive for me in my life.”

At state, Day will compete in two relays and one individual race — the 200-meter medley relay, the 200 freestyle relay and the 50 freestyle. All three 50-meter legs are explosive swims, Helling said.

“What I’m looking for from her is solid sprinting,” he said. “She’s going to be sprinting three 50 freestyles and what we want from her is for the taper to come together.”

Leading up to the race, Day will be tapering off from the intense practices to strengthen her body for the push in competition. The focus this week has been on swimming through the turn, an important moment in the shorter races, Helling said.

Day is the sort of swimmer who won’t let a bad day get her down, and she very rarely has a bad day, her coach said. From Helling’s perspective, that positivity makes coaching easier and more fun.

“As a coach I love her energy and her sense of humor and her compassion,” he said. “Just the way she interacts with her teammates, she always shows she loves swimming and loves the team.”

Working with the Day family for as long as he has, Helling appreciates the support and consistency they bring to the team.

“They are a great and very supportive family,” he said. “I believe they have a very positive outlook on how sports fits into a young person’s education and growth. The parents have helped out when needed, helped out a lot at the meets, the kids are just wonderful kids.”

Swimming has been a central part of Day’s life for as long as she can remember. She grew up down the street from a pool where her parents brought all the kids for lessons and team practices. She never thought to question what sport she would participate in because swimming was always the answer, she said.

Now, going into her last high school state championship, she wants to embrace her team and all the different personalities she coordinates as their captain.

“As far as racing all I can do is trust in what Don’s coaching has prepared us for and I know it’s going to work out,” Day said. “The main things for me as far as goals is just absorbing all the moments I have left on the team as a senior.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Day continues her family's swim team legacy at Sehome."