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It hasn’t been a direct path to success in the swimming pool for Kickapoo’s Ashlyn Moore.
Moore’s put in hours both in and out of the water, striving to break records and leave her mark as a Chief.
For Moore, there’s always been something special about water. “I’ve grown up around the water around the lake and just swimming in general,” the Kickapoo senior said.
For most of her life being in the water has been more than a hobby.
“I think I started swimming on a swim team when I was seven. I learned to swim when I was five,” said Moore.
Ashlyn’s competitive relationship with water began once she entered high school in Warrensburg, before transferring to Kickapoo.
“I don’t really feel like I fell in love with swimming until between my sophomore and junior year,” Moore added.
That love turned to hard work and determination to get better when Kickapoo Coach Peter Hill left Ashlyn with a challenge.
“Pete told me ‘Come back next year being able to squat your weight’ and I was like ‘Okay,’” She said.
So, she did.
“From sophomore year to junior year great strides. She is very driven, she is very confident, she is very coachable,” Hill said.
After her junior season she got even better. “From junior year to senior year the strides were amazing. Her offseason times were what we had hoped for, and what she’s doing now with anchoring the relays and then her individual events it’s nothing but amazing just how dedicated and a hard worker she is,” Hill added.
Ashlyn’s hard work even shows up on the record board. She owns the 100-yard freestyle pool record. She also owns school records in the 200, 100, and 50-yard freestyle.
The Records are proof that her hard work is paying off.
“To see what she accomplished over the last three years, really she’s kind of reborn since she moved here from Warrensburg, and I mean she took it to a whole new level every year,” said Hill.
“Really glad to exit my last year here with those records and leaving a mark on the pool and at the school. I never would’ve thought that would happen sophomore year when I first moved here,” Moore said.
Her time to make a permanent impact isn’t over with the state meet still ahead.
