Diving head first, Kelly Capell

At her childhood home, English teacher Kelly Capell had a swimming pool in the backyard. When she was younger she took swimming lessons and was always in the water.

Growing up, Capell played softball. However in high school, she dislocated her knee and had to go another direction.

Capell decided to swim. In high school, Capell was involved in competitive swim and fell in love. This ed her to get involved in water polo and open water swimming.

Capell now swims with a group at CalFit that has been together for 10 years now. The group still does races. Capell’s favorite race took her under the Golden Gate Bridge. Capell enjoys being able to swim with a group because they help to keep each other on track.

“We push each other and it’s really good for setting goals because we do races together,” Capell said. “It’s really just a way to do physical activity and do it an enjoyable way that keeps you going back every day.”

Capell believes having friends to race and train with is an advantage because swimming can get lonesome so it is good to have someone to be there supporting you.

“They push you when you’re tired. They’re pushing you to be better, the same way I push them to better,” Capell said. “Without that, it’s lonely because swimming is a very isolated sport, but when you pop up in between sets that’s when you can pop up and push each other to be stronger even though it’s not always easy.”