Welcome, Charlotte Aquatics family and proud parents, to a special edition of our swim blog that is sure to make waves of excitement! Today, we are thrilled to shine a spotlight on the rising stars of our aquatic community – the newest Level 7 Graduates! Our graduates are ready to share their tales – inspiring bios that showcase the transformation that happens when passion meets persistence in the shimmering embrace of the water.
Willie’s Bio:
Willie Alston is 9 years old and is in 4th grade. When he is not swimming, he likes to play basketball or play with his dogs Florida and Lester. His favorite stroke is backstroke. Swimming changed his life because he knew that he was safer when he went to pools or the beach. What he likes most about Charlotte Aquatics is the teachers – they are nice and helpful. His favorite memory of Charlotte Aquatics was the first time that he leveled up. He reminisces saying “I remember I was so happy.”
Legend’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Cruz’s Bio:
Cruz is 8 years old, in 3rd grade, and stays very busy! He is currently playing his 2nd season of flag football, and just moved to the advance level in his karate class – he is over half way to obtaining his black belt! Cruz said his favorite stroke is a tie between Freestyle and Breaststroke! Swimming has helped make him a better athlete all around. He says every work out provides a great work out! Charlotte Aquatics has helped make Cruz a confident swimmer! He said he is really going to miss his weekly practices, but not to worry because he wants to come back in the spring for Elite Fish! We are so proud of Cruz and this HUGE accomplishment! Way to go CRUZ!!!!
Swanu’s Bio:
Swanu is 9 years old and in 4th grade. When he is not swimming he likes to play Nintendo. His favorite stroke is breaststroke. Swimming has changed his life because he has become strong and confidence. His favorite thing about Charlotte Aquatics are the coaches. His favorite memory of Charlotte Aquatics was the Olympics race!
Evan’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Rutisha’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Thomas’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Zyra’s Bio:
Zyra is 12 years old and in 7th grade. When she is not swimming, she likes to read. The breaststroke is her favorite stroke. Swimming has made her more comfortable in the water. She loves the coaches at Charlotte Aquatics because they are all kind. Her favorite memory is when she got into level 7.
Jonah’s Bio:
Jonah is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. When he’s not swimming, Jonah is playing VR and playing with his friends. Jonah’s favorite stroke is the crawl. Swimming made Jonah more competitive. Jonah likes the staff the most at Charlotte Aquatics. His favorite memory is swimming with his teachers!
Elin’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Grayson’s Bio:
Grayson is 7 years old and in 2nd grade at Polo Ridge Elementary. His favorite thing to do (outside of swimming) is to play ANY sport he possibly can (mainly football, baseball or basketball)! Grayson’s favorite stroke is either freestyle or butterfly because he can move through the water quickly. He likes getting to use the rope swing into the pool as a fun end of class activity.
Natalie’s Bio:
Natalie is so excited to graduate from Level 7! Natalie is 8 years old and in 3rd grad. She started swimming with Charlotte Aquatics when she was around 2. Her favorite thing has been her time with all the different instructors – they’re all so nice and fun and patient when they teach. When she’s not swimming, she loves to do art, play with her friends, read, play soccer and listen to Taylor Swift. Her favorite stroke is freestyle. The family says “We’ll miss Charlotte Aquatics so much!”
Gemma’s Bio:
Gemma is 10 years old and in 4th grade. When she’s not swimming, she listens to music in her room. She loves ’90s boy bands and (of course) Taylor Swift. Her favorite memory of swimming is boogie boarding in the ocean in New Jersey. Swimming has become one of her favorite hobbies. She loves the feeling of being in the water where there is no gravity – freedom of movement. Freestyle is her favorite stroke because she’s fast at it, and also butterfly because it makes her feel like a mermaid.
She likes Charlotte Aquatics because it has a very big pool. The instructors are funny and point in her in the right direction to perfect her technique. She put her patches on her memo board in her bedroom. Her favorite memory is lapping all the other kids in the pool (lol).
Sahil’s Bio:
Sahil is 8 and in 3rd grade. He started taking swim lessons at 1 at Charlotte Aquatics and has been a regular student since then. He has been waiting for his graduation moment for a long time – he has been eager to join the ranks of his sister, Isha and his dear friend, Silvia as a graduate of Charlotte Aquatics and we are so glad that the day is finally here – yay Sahil. We are so proud of you. When Sahil is not swimming, he enjoys spending almost all of his time on the tennis court. He also enjoys playing chess, video games, board games, reading, playing soccer, playing with friends in the neighborhood and traveling to new places with family and friends. His favorite stroke are freestyle and breast stroke. His favorite part of Charlotte Aquatics has been the instructors – especially Coach Gigi, Coach Deborah, and both Coach Mike’s. His favorite memory of Charlotte Aquatics will likely be his graduation day – he’s been waiting for this moment for a long time. It is a huge accomplishment for him, and he is so proud of himself. His graduation comes just in time for him to enjoy the new pool at our house! We are very proud of you too, buddy – for all your hard work, persistence, and focus. Way to go Sahil!
Abriiyah’s Bio:
Abriiyah, who is 12 and in 7th grade, and brother, Gaige (pictured below), have been looking forward to this day seeing how they started together and finished together. They couldn’t have done it without Charlotte Aquatics and their very skilled staff for the past 3 years! Upon starting Abriiyah was very FEARFUL of water. Any of the instructors that assisted in teaching them helped her become comfortable and confident in the water. Both Abriiyah and Gaige’s favorite stroke is the butterfly. Abriiyah states that swimming has changed her life because she’s NO LONGER FEARFUL OF WATER. When asked what do they like most about Charlotte Aquatics… THEY BOTH RESPONDED OUR INSTRUCTORS!!! Thank you so much for everything Charlotte Aquatics, you have been a blessing to our family!
Gaige’s Bio:
Gaige, who is 8 and in 3rd grade, and sister Abriiyah (pictured above), have been looking forward to this day seeing how they started together and finished together. They couldn’t have done it without Charlotte Aquatics and their very skilled staff for the past 3 years! Upon starting Abriiyah was very FEARFUL of water. Any of the instructors that assisted in teaching them helped her become comfortable and confident in the water. Both Abriiyah and Gaige’s favorite stroke is the butterfly. Gaige says his life has changed from swimming because he has now MASTERED ALL THE STROKES. When asked what do they like most about Charlotte Aquatics… THEY BOTH RESPONDED OUR INSTRUCTORS!!! Thank you so much for everything Charlotte Aquatics, you have been a blessing to our family!
Oliver’s Bio:
Coming soon…
Anshi’s Bio:
Anshi is 9 years old and in 5th grade. When she is not swimming, she dances Bharatnatayam (an Indian classical dance) or plays volleyball. Her favorite stroke is breast stroke. What she likes most about Charlotte Aquatics are the coaches because they provide personalized attention to kids and this helps in kids learning growth. Her favorite memory at Charlotte Aquatics is when she started doing butterfly strokes.
William’s Bio:
Coming soon…
We are grateful for the amazing Charlotte Aquatics staff and all they have done to develop our children into excellent swimmers. We have been coming to Charlotte Aquatics weekly for almost 10 years and have watched our two children develop unbelievable swimming skills, one week at a time. It’s hard to believe that we have come to the end of this era as our youngest graduates from level 7! Thank you Charlotte Aquatics Team for all your hard work and dedication!
Michele & Cary McCaskill