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Revamped Swim Program Goes The Distance
Monrovia Weekly Apr 19, 2018
Under the tutelage of first-year Head Coach Julie Brown, the Monrovia boys’ and girls’ swim team has made major strides to becoming a respected and well-established program.
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Under the tutelage of first-year Head Coach Julie Burns, the Monrovia boys’ and girls’ swim team has made major strides to becoming a respected and well-established program.
-Courtesy Photo / Julie Burns (Monrovia High School Swim Team)
By Aaron Valdez
In what was supposed to be another season of uncertainty, the Monrovia swim team has instead found much success under the tutelage of new Head Coach Julie Burns.
Going into this year, there were many questions surrounding the boys’ and girls’ team since it was without a coach and experiencing a plateau in its results. However, after Burns was given the reins, it didn’t take long for the Wildcats to see a vast improvement in their performance.
Despite never having coached high school before, Burns’ water sport expertise, polished resume and jovial demeanor made her the perfect fit for a Monrovia team that was in need of a revival.
This season’s roster, which is the largest it’s been in years, has responded well to Burns’ critical but positive coaching style. The hours of training her swimmers have put in throughout the season has bared encouraging results in the team’s competitions.
One of the team’s most notable performances so far came during the Savanna Invitational when the girls’ team and boys’ team won first and second place, respectively. Burns believes this feat skyrocketed her team’s confidence because it had been quite some time since they tasted a victory of this magnitude.
“I believe in my athletes, which has taught them to believe in themselves,” Burns said. “ They have had a tremendous year.”
Monrovia’s latest outing was last weekend at the Chino Hills Invitational which had 36 high schools and 1500 athletes competing. Lo and behold, the Wildcats were impressive all across the board as each swimmer hit a new personal record. The team also had four swimmers in the finals as opposed to only two it had last season.
With three meets remaining in the season, Burns and her team hope their progress and hard work continues to perpetuate a prosperous culture at Monrovia.
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