War Eagle! Gold's Kara West Continues Swimming Quest at Auburn U

Chattahoochee Gold swimmer Kara West says Auburn University is the place for her. As a junior at Lambert High School in Forsyth County, she's given her verbal commitment to the university starting in fall of 2023. "I chose Auburn as my future school for many reasons. I believe one of the biggest reasons is the team itself. Just being on the campus for my 48 hour visit, I felt the closeness of the team at a huge level. I instantly knew that a close team environment was where I wanted to be."

Kara says she's open to swimming any events the Auburn coaches want her to, but thinks they'll likely have her compete in the 50 and 100 freestyle races as the team pursues an SEC Women's championship. That's little surprise - Kara finished second in both of those events as Lambert won the Georgia High School Association Girls 7A State Swimming Championships in February. She says, "I have been working very hard in practice and I am hoping to knock a few seconds off of my times before I head to Auburn." While she's at 'The Loveliest Village on the Plains' Kara aims to score well at all of Auburn's meets including the SEC & NCAA Championships and also qualify for the Olympic Trials.

Kara has no doubt how she's excelled in the pool. "Gold has helped me achieve my goal of becoming a D1 swimmer by pushing me in practices, allowing me to compete in major meets, and helping me make amazing friends who help me push myself in all new ways. I credit many Gold coaches for supporting me and giving me words of wisdom but most importantly I give credit to my former coach Ryan L’Roy and my current coach, Coach Pat Murphy. My favorite part of swimming for Gold has been being able to accomplish goals that I never knew I had. " Coach Pat reflected, "As a coach, it's satisfying to see an athlete’s growth in self-confidence and expectations for themselves. For Kara, it’s been a journey that started with 'Maybe I could swim in college', and 'What if no one wants me?' So for her to sign with a premier school like Auburn University is her dream come true, and it’s exciting for her teammates to be part of it. It will be fun to see what the years ahead hold for Kara."

When not pursuing her swimming goals, Kara will study Kinesiology at Auburn, eventually going to nursing school. "I am beyond grateful to my parents, high school coaches, strength coaches, and friends. They have stood with me through my entire swimming career and always supported me. I am also so grateful to God, for blessing me with this talent and making it possible for me to achieve this opportunity."

Chattahoochee Gold is one of USA Swimming's top 100 programs. The team's HQ is the Woodstock Aquatic Center and also trains swimmers at the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Marietta and the Cumming Aquatic Center.

goldswim.com