DUNLAP, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — When it came to sports, Ava Salverson really didn’t have much of a choice growing up.
Swimming was the choice.
“I started when I was six,” said Salverson. “It was easy for my mom to bring us all to practice.”
She is the youngest in her family with three older siblings who were all swimmers. Salverson says she has benefitted from being the youngest in a family of swimmers.
She hopes to qualify for her third state meet next month and hopes her name will be on the Dunlap High School record board when she graduates. Her motivation came from watching her older sister Brenna and brothers Quinn and Levi.
“I saw their ups and downs and how they came out on top,” Salverson said, who especially took note of her bother Levi qualifying for state last year. “That’s pushed me to be where I’m at now.”
But next year she’ll do something her older siblings didn’t do. She pans to swim in college after verbally committing to Wyoming.
“Her three older siblings did not swim in college,” said Dunlap swim coach Michelle Snelson. “So this will be something else for her to prove to the rest of the family.”
Said Salverson: “I think they are excited to cheer me on. They thought swimming was pretty fun but they wanted to focus on something else in college. But this will keep my passion going.”
