Ever since Mercy Varsity Swim team captain Julia Coffman was 5 years old, she has had a love for swimming.

“I am terrible with hand-eye-coordination,” said Coffman, a senior. “So I took up swim. Once I started, I could not stop. It’s kind of addicting, to be totally honest.”

Swimming is known to be the most rigorous sport at school. Swimmers practice for an hour before school and for about two hours after school every day. Juggling these extensive practices with homework, tests, and quizzes can be quite challenging. Due to her passion for the sport, Coffman had to develop a routine to keep up with her education and swimming. Luckily, she found one, which consists of an 18-hour day.

Coffman wakes up at 4:40 am and leaves by 5:00 a.m.. She then drives to school from her home in Ann Arbor to get ready for lifting weights or swimming. Next, she attends all of her classes including: honors pre-calculus, AP English, AP physics, Spanish 4, AP biology, and women in the Bible. Evidently, she has an extremely difficult and time-consuming school schedule as well as her swim schedule. She then has practice again after school, goes home, and eventually goes to bed around 10:30 p.m.

“I am proud that she is one of our representatives,” said Coach Mike Venos. “She works hard in school, she’s a fantastic leader, and you really can’t ask for a better Mercy girl.”

Coffman plans to swim on a collegiate level as well.

“I have always seen myself swimming in college. I really can’t imagine life without it,” Coffman said.