By Chris Cox
Some kids play multiple sports when they’re young to find the one they love the most. For Shawnee sophomore Gracyn Simpson, that wasn’t the case. She knew swimming would be her sport from day one.
“I started swimming when I was five,” she says. “I had a friend that would swim, and she told me to try it one day. I did. And I haven’t left the pool since.”
Simpson loves swimming. She loves the time it takes in and out of the pool to be her best and like any competitor, she also loves the gratification of winning. While she just finished her second year of high school swimming, Gracyn has seen plenty of success. Simpson was a part of two state winning relay teams this past year and a part of the Shawnee swim team’s back-to- back state titles in 2022 and 2023.
While Simpson has already achieved a lot in her young career, she admits it was daunting when
she first got to high school.
“It was very intimidating when I got on the team freshman year,” she says. “Piper McNeil and Natalie Selman are awesome swimmers and I had to keep up with them. But it was really cool to workout with them every day and push myself harder and harder.”
McNeil and Selman are two teammates that Simpson has looked up to in her young career, but she says she wouldn’t be the swimmer, or person, she is today without her entire support system.
“I’ve had a lot of coaches that have been influential in my life,” she says. “It’s really important to have people and friends to back you up. I would not be here without every coach, every friend, and every adult figure in my life. They have all contributed to swim in some way.”
One coach that’s had a big influence in Simpson’s life and career is Valerie Colburn.
“Valerie has taught me ever since I was little,” Simpson says. “At my first swim meet I was really
nervous and didn’t know what to do. So, I started to cry, like any five-year-old would. But Valerie told me, ‘You have two options: You can be a big girl and get back in the water or you can cry, and I’ll just take you home.’ Ever since that day, I’ve just stayed in the water.”
When Gracyn is not swimming for Shawnee High School, you can find her running for the
Wolves on the track team or in another pool somewhere. Gracyn competes in USA Swim events around the state and region and helps coach swim at the Shawnee YMCA. Simpson is just finishing up her sophomore year, but she has been thinking about her future and hopes to have the opportunity swim in college.
