Chelsea swimmer is looking forward to Notre Dame College

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Riley Monahan competing in the pool for Chelsea High School. photo by Mike Williamson

In thinking about competing in the pool for Notre Dame College, Chelsea’s Riley Monahan said she’s excited and looking forward to what’s ahead.

Monahan recently signed a letter of intent to swim for Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio.

Monahan was All-State in the 500 free (2022), 3x All-SEC in the 500 free (2020- 2nd place, 2021- 1st place, & 2022- 2nd place), 2x All-SEC in the 200 free (2021- 2nd place & 2022- 2nd place), 2x Hardest Worker Award (2020 & 2021), 2x MVP Award (2021 & 2022) and First Year Impact Award (2019).

The Sun Times News (STN) asked her how she feels about signing with Notre Dame College.

“I’m very excited!” she answered. “I enjoyed all of the team members and the coach!”

She said she “loved the family aspect of the team and how they did so much team bonding, it made everyone feel like they were a part of a second family.”

She also said she likes how competitive the program is and how she’ll be traveling outside of Michigan when competing and being able to swim with people from different backgrounds.

Riley Monahan on signing day. photo courtesy of Chelsea Athletics

STN asked her if feels like the hard work has paid off.

“It feels great knowing that after starting swimming when I was 8 years old, working hard has helped get me to where I want to be and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me at Notre Dame College,” Monahan said.

In addition to the hard work and commitment, another part of her success has been the team.

“Some things that have stood out to me while competing for Chelsea would have to be the bond that the team has through defeat and how we all motivate each other to become better,” she told STN. “Every team has their fair share of wins and losses; I think that one thing that makes the swim team unique was that we all would work harder leading up to our next big meet.”

“Especially during my freshman and sophomore years, we all wanted to try and beat Dexter in a dual meet and even win SECs while they were still in our conference, even if we weren’t able to accomplish those goals, we knew that we still needed to work hard and that we would try again next year,” she said. “We would also help motivate each other, while at meets I loved being able to see people cheer each other on at the end of a lane and even go down to a teammate and give them a pep talk. We all share this special bond and we all want everyone to succeed and become better than the year before.”

Talking about that bond and support leads to the next question, who in your life helped you get to this point and what would do say about them?

“I would have to say my family, teammates, coaches, Chelsea High School, DCAC (Dexter Community Aquatic Club), and CAC (Chelsea Aquatic Club),” she said. “My family: my mom, dad, and sister (Keygan) have helped cheer me on from the beginning of my career and have helped get me to where I am today. They have helped motivate me to get up for those early practices and to keep working hard to achieve my goals. My sister, Keygan, has been my biggest cheerleader, sign holder in the longer events, and a very fun teammate to have over my career at CHS.”

She said, “For my swim career, teammates have been a big part of me. I’ve loved having them cheer me on and help make practice and meets fun especially when times got tough. To my coaches, CAC (Jen Olk and Beth Leissner), DCAC (Mike Schuenke and Dave Gendernalik), and CHS (Andrew Thomson, Jon Osterle, Katy Kellogg, and Kristy Wing), to everyone that I’ve mentioned, I just wanted to say thank you. You’ve all helped push me to be the best athlete that I could be, and thanks to you, I get to keep competing in the future.”

Monahan competing with the CHS Bulldogs. photo courtesy of Mid West Sports Network
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