It’s now not often that a metropolis boasts a schooling center for global-elegance athletes. And for nearby athletes who grew up with the Olympic Training Center simply down the street, it’s easy for them to miss what’s possible at 1 Olympic Plaza. On Friday, members of the Rampart High School girls’ swimming and diving crew coulders from a new attitude thanks to Colorado Springs and 2016 Olympian Olivia Smoliga.

We teach here a lot for our membership group, and I think now and again we forget that this is a unique area, and we can draw so much proposal from here,” stated Rampart senior Edenna Chen. We forget approximately that because it’s part of our ordinary lifestyles. I remember looking (at Smoliga) at the Olympics, they inspire me. It’s surely superb to be reminded of why we swim and use this as motivation for success.

Smoliga, the U.S. Document holder in the 50 backstrokes, is schooling in Colorado Springs for the World Championships. She spoke with the Rampart athletes and answered questions about her achievements in the sport, and her hair and skin-care exercises. Smoliga recalled the first time she visited the education center when she turned 16. Right then, I wanted to train right here, and I desired to see the Olympics, but I think what’s also so vital is remembering the journey to get there,” Smoliga stated. “I remember going to school country championships, and the moment is certainly one of my favorite occasions.

Don’t suppose that while you guys come here to educate or make your first crew, that high school state wasn’t a lead thing in pushing to the swimmer that you at some point want to be,” she said. Smoliga asked the country champions if they dreamed of going to the Olympics at some point. After a few coaxing, swimmers bashfully raised their hands. I suppose we’re surely greater decided to paintings closer to that goal now,” Chen stated. “It’s, in reality, each youngster’s dream to visit the Olympics, but it’s a virtually hard feat, so we’re excited to start working harder closer to it.

The Rampart crew was invited for the excursion after prevailing again-to-again in the Class 4A nation championships. The athletes also met Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, who congratulated the Rams on their accomplishments. It’s quite a feat to win a state championship and pretty every other to do it once more the following 12 months,” Suthers said. “At that (point), it’s now not a pipe dream, however quite of an expectation that has the introduced undertaking of having the entire kingdom out to dethrone you. I need to congratulate Rampart High School and the women’s swimming crew on their 2nd nation title.

The Rams broke the 4A kingdom document within the 200 medley relay for the second year in a row regarding their 2nd identity. In general, the Rams claimed five out of 12 occasions on the path to the national championship, beating the second one-vicinity team, Niwot, with 62.5 factors. Chen, who additionally broke a character record within the 100 breaststrokes on her way to nation gold, aspires to swim at the college degree and past. I did need to try to qualify for the Olympic trials inside the one hundred breaststroke, so we can see how that is going. However, I will paint hard for that, specifically now that we’ve heard Olivia’s tale.