Lauren Patterson swims the 100-yard backstroke at the first home swim meet the team had seen in years on Wednesday, Nov 17, 2021. She broke the team record.
Lauren Patterson, a Junior for the 2022-23 school year, is known for her swimming prowess. From ranking 13th in North Carolina to traveling abroad to train, Patterson has been making WHS history with her impressive accomplishments. To get that good, though, Patterson had to start somewhere.
“When I was two, my parents put me in swim lessons because my mom cannot swim and she’s always been scared of the water,” she said. “So I took some lessons for three years. There’s never really been a time of my life where I wasn’t in the water.”
Once Patterson was five years old, she told her mom that she wanted to start swimming competitively, kicking off her swimming career. Since she started, Patterson has yet to stop. With so much time in the swimming scene, she has grown to love the competition.
“I love the fact that it is an individual sport and I can perform for myself, but I also have a team behind me, supporting me for my individual success,” Patterson said. “You have a huge team behind you, and it’s just fun to be in the water. It’s just so versatile. There’s so many things to love about swimming, but [my favorite thing] is probably the whole team aspect.”
Regarding her individual success, Patterson has been presented with some exciting opportunities. When she was still with the Club Team in Boone, she was selected as one of eight girls to represent North Carolina in Texas for a national-level competition. Despite how grand of an experience that was, that was not the most exciting. Patterson moved to Enfinity, the club team she now swims for in Winston-Salem, and got to travel to Puerto Rico during the summer to train for ten days.
“Honestly, the whole thing [was exciting],” she said. “We were staying at the Olympic Training Center, so for me to be able to train for 10 days in an Olympic Training Center pool in another country [was incredible]! I think just the idea of ‘oh, I’m swimming where Olympians have swam’, I think that was probably the main thing about it that was super fun.”
With her notable ledger and experience at a young age, it shouldn’t come as a shock that Patterson has caught the attention of some colleges. That being said, one college in particular caught her attention.
“As of June 15th, I could talk to Division 1 programs, and I’ve had quite a few schools reach out. The top school that has reached out that I really want to go to is the University of Kentucky,” Patterson said. “I had a meeting with the head coach on Friday, September 3rd. He asked if I was looking at any other schools, and I said no. Then, he said it’s time for you to commit!”
With that, Patterson is officially committed to swim for the University of Kentucky! Despite swimming taking up the majority of her time, Patterson needs time to relax every now and then. In her spare time, she loves to volunteer.
“I do swim lessons with five kids here and there, and I love doing that,” Patterson said. “Volunteering is more kind of my favorite thing to do. I help at a ministry-based horse farm in Deep Gap with special needs kids and I get to share the gospel with them, and I just get to talk to them and help them feel better about themselves. That’s why I love it! I can see myself sharing what I love and I can see the kids and their enjoyment of it.”
When she isn’t swimming, volunteering, or at school, Patterson spends time helping out on her family’s farm. In the summer when she has more free time, she helps by putting out hay for and checking on their 120 beef cattle.
“We used to have pigs and chickens but we don’t have those anymore because it’s just too much to try and manage with the amount of cattle we have,” she said. “During the school year when I’m super busy, it’s not as much me doing the work as it is my grandfather.”
Despite her grand “individual success”, Patterson does not want to take all the credit, attributing her success to others in her life.
“I’m going to give a big shout out to the Lord! He has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities. There is just no way I could have done this by myself,” she said. “Also my mom, and my coach. My mom has been there with me from day one. There has never been a moment where my mom has not pushed me to my very best and [she has always] wanted me to succeed. I just want to thank her for all of that. My coach has believed in me since the day I met him, about 4 years ago now. He’s really gotten me to where I am today.”
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