Emery Charles is a 17-year-old, Oak Hills High School Senior swimmer. She participates in three sports: tennis, swimming, and track. On top of her tri-sport schedule, she finds time to weightlift in her free time for strengthening to better her abilities for her sports. Charles has an extremely busy schedule consisting of five advanced placement classes with practices multiple days a week, and sometimes, multiple times a day! She utilizes her study hall and X-bell time to get work done. Charles will find time to “study in the locker room after morning practices on days I have a test.”
Throughout her lifetime, Charles has grown to love and enjoy swimming. She explained that her “family joined a summer swim club where I was influenced by some friends to start swimming and diving, and a couple of years later I joined the competitive club team my brother and older sister swam for.” Charles is one of five siblings who all swam at one point in their life, or still do. Charles has a close bond with her family and friends inside and outside the pool. Apart from her family, Teagen Charles, Emery’s older sister, was her biggest inspiration because she had always pushed her to her limits.
On top of Teagen, Charles has great experiences with the Oak Hills coaches. When asked how her high school coaches have helped her, she answers, “Coach Schroder was very supportive and always wanted to see me succeed, and Coach Fightmaster, who happened to be one of my first club coaches, has been very encouraging during these past two years by giving great advice and leading the team.” Emery explains that Oak Hills swimming has taught her perseverance from her challenging practice sets, but more importantly, Charles learned to take on the responsibility of holding herself accountable and never giving up.
Charles started swimming for her summer club at the age of seven but years later, she transitioned into her competitive swim team at age 11 where her love for breaststroke started. Charles explains that she began swimming breaststroke when joining her summer club swim team because she thought it was the only stroke she could do without being disqualified! This translated into her being the 2024 Sectional Champion in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard freestyle.
Emery is a great example of a hard worker in school and the pool. She doesn’t wish to swim at a collegiate level due to her big academic goals. Charles still aspires to continue swimming for her future college’s club team to pursue her love of swimming.