Franklin’s swim team focuses on the joyfulness of the sport, which is exemplified through their captains who push the team to do their best in and out of the pool. As swim captains, Annalise Shorb, Guthrie Castile, and Ruby Rippetoe-Crawford embody the spirit of what it means to be a Franklin student-athlete and set the standard for what it means to be a Franklin swimmer.
The captains continue to work not just on the team’s athletics, but on its spirit and bond. On top of duties such as helping lead practices and advising new swimmers, Shorb, Castile, and Rippetoe-Crawford have planned theme days, swim lunches, and parties — all activities with the common goal of bonding the swimmers on the team.
These bonding activities are so important because there is only one swim team at Franklin, split neither by gender nor skill level. The variety of skill levels on the team is significant, as some team members have little to no experience before joining while others have been swimming most of their lives. The team’s diversity holds not just differences in swimming experience, but life experiences. “It’s really hard because we have such a range, from senior girls all the way to freshman boys,” Shorb comments. “We have team parties and lunches … because we’re trying to make more of a community.” These bonding events help to bridge the gap between the swimmers.
All three captains started swimming at Portland Parks and Recreation swimming lessons. In a full circle moment, Shorb now instructs the next generation of swimmers at the East Portland Community Center. “My mom has inspired my swimming ever since I was really little by taking us to the pool every day,” Shorb explains. “We were just always in the water.”
Castile also took swim lessons as a child, but he didn’t think about swimming in high school; instead, he started his high school athletic career running on Franklin’s cross-country team. However, running can be quite hard on the joints, so — at his father’s suggestion — Castile quit running and began swimming in the winter. He quickly found that the practices take up a large amount of time, making it difficult for him to balance being on the swim team with his schoolwork. To combat this, Castile explains that, so that he can go directly to sleep after his late-night practices, “I just try to find a lot of time to do homework in other classes.”
“I would say swimming didn’t become my main sport until sophomore year,” says Rippetoe-Crawford, who started as a runner like Castile. Joining the team was originally a friend’s idea, as she didn’t want to join alone. Ironically, when her friend quit, Rippetoe-Crawford stayed on due to her love for the sport.
All of the captains are seniors who have been a part of Franklin Swim since their freshman year, which is a requirement to be a captain on the team. Because of this, they’ve all met and been inspired by previous captains. “They were all role models to me, especially when I was an underclassman,” says Rippetoe-Crawford.
Shorb was inspired by previous captain Hollis Morris, who is why Shorb swims her main event, the 500-yard freestyle. Shorb’s role as a captain is also influenced by her predecessor Hazel Karon Snow. “[Karon Snow] did so much and made swimming such a fun, welcoming environment. I wanted to do the same and really expand on all the hard work the previous captains have done.”
For Castile, he explains, “My aunt is my biggest inspiration, she’s a really good swimmer who [was an] All-American [swimmer].” Being an All-American is an honor bestowed upon the fastest high school swimmers in our nation. Castile reveals, though, that he almost quit the sport his sophomore year after he missed an event during a district-wide competition, causing him to be disqualified from the entire meet. According to Castile, “It was mostly my fault, and I felt so unmotivated to swim that I wanted to quit really bad, just like on the spot.” Fortunately, the Franklin swim coach Erin Morris spoke to some officials and got him back in the competition for the rest of his events. Castile explains that he “came back for the last event, and set a personal record by five seconds.”
Each of the captains has developed their own ideas on how they can make Franklin Swim the best it can be. For Shorb, that starts in recruitment. Since the school year began, Shorb has led her team to advertise at school events. The team had a booth at both the Club Fair and Back to School Night, and they also have an Instagram account — run by team members Audrey Lynch and Jonny Sommer — to help promote the team.
Due to this advertising, Shorb feels that the team has “a wide range [of swimmers] and that that’s really awesome.” She explains how this takes form: “We have people who have never done swim team or swam officially before, then we have people who basically swim six days a week and get up early to swim before school [and] then go to practice.”
As the team grows, so do the captains’ responsibilities, and Franklin swimmer Minh-Thuy Tran thinks they’ve risen to the occasion. “This year, captains [Shorb], [Castile], and [Rippetoe-Crawford] have been doing a great job supporting the team and bringing team spirit. I noticed a more organized schedule to manage the new influx of swimmers and limited space, which has been crucial,” Tran says. The captains’ other duties include working as ambassadors for new students, leading workouts, recruiting new members, and generally assisting their coach.
Castile himself has done plenty of recruitment for the team. “[Castile] has single-handedly stocked the team with boys,” claims Morris. “He is directly responsible for a fourth of the roster.” He now spends a lot of time working on team bonding activities, including organizing a party for the team before Winter Break.
Morris praises Rippetoe-Crawford for being “steady like a rock.” Her coach adds, “[She is] always willing to swim something no one else will swim. [Rippetoe-Crawford] is a hard worker … never underestimate [Rippetoe-Crawford].” The captain in question focuses on the mentorship aspect of her job; her goal as captain is to support younger and newer swimmers.
“[Shorb] asked me her first practice freshman year what she needed to do to be captain. [Shorb] is a natural leader and has high expectations for the team,” Morris says, highlighting Shorb’s devotion to the team. From Tran’s perspective, as a team member, she appreciates “[Shorb] for consistently showing up and giving directions. [Shorb] was at each weight room pre-season workout — cheerful, encouraging, and ready to lead at the crack of dawn — which definitely motivated me.”
Ultimately, the swim team is meant to be a fun experience for students to improve physically and build community. The team reflects Morris’ goal for “other people to feel confident swimming and [become] a swimmer for life, not just for four years of high school.” All three captains plan on continuing to swim recreationally in college and hope for swimming to be a continuous theme in their lives.
