Overcoming Obstacles, Gold's Reilly Allman to Swim for Emmanuel

Come September, Chattahoochee Gold swim team's Reilly Allman begins her next great adventure as a Division II scholar-athlete at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia....though earning this select opportunity to swim in college didn't come without its challenges along the way.

Reilly says early in her swim career, she "...learned a lot of bad technique, to be honest my strokes were terrible." Then after a coach's lessons and three years working to refine her stroke, as a high school freshman Reilly found Woodstock's Chattahoochee Gold and Senior-National coach Mark Schilling. That's until the pandemic hit, "When we finally returned to the pool, Senior and National group were split up. I was still in Senior group at the time, so I ended up with a new coach. This was a big change because most of my friends were already in National group. My new coach’s name was Luke Osgood. As it would turn out, Coach Luke was one of the best coaches I have ever had. Under him I made achievements that old me never thought I would."

Eventually she was back under the tutelage of Coach Schilling who would give her an opportunity that no other coach had, to train for 500 Freestyle and compete in events longer than 200 yards where she's thrived, "Since then I have focused my swimming mostly on distance Free. I hope to continue this focus on distance and develop it while in college to a degree where I will be able to compete in these races on a national level."

When it came to swimming & studying in college, Reilly originally had her sights set on an out-of-state school and she'd settled on a college in Kentucky where she liked the swim team, the coach was a great guy and a counselor mentioned potential scholarship opportunities. "Then, about two or so months ago, all those pieces that were falling into place fell apart. I didn’t get any of the scholarships, the swim coach left, and if I had attended that school I would have walked out with a whole lot of debt. Then Emmanuel College showed up on my radar...as fate would have it, Emmanuel’s coaches were great, their swim team was really welcoming, and the scholarship they offered me would enable me to graduate practically debt free. Emmanuel was a huge blessing and I’m incredibly grateful that they chose me." Coach Schilling says, "I’m overjoyed that Reilly was able to find her perfect college match. She’s such a hard worker and great student athlete- Emmanuel is lucky to have her!”

As she's shortly bound for Emmanuel, Reilly fondly reflects on her tenure with Chattahoochee Gold, "All in all, my time at Gold and all the amazing coaches and teammates that have kept me going throughout the years are what have led me to swim competitively in college. I can’t thank all these people enough. Gold has been a huge part in my life and I’m sure all the things I have learned through my many, many long, cold, and exhausting practices will come in handy as I live life."

goldswim.com

Chattahoochee Gold is marking its 30th anniversary. The team trains its swimmers at the Woodstock Aquatic Center, Mountain View Aquatic Center in Marietta and Cumming Aquatic Center in Forsyth County