Senior Colin Kingsley is one of two captains of the varsity swim team. He qualified for the state swim meet last year, but the season ends with conference this year due to COVID restrictions.

When and why did you start swimming?

“I started swimming competitively around the age of six or seven for the Lake Forest Swim Club. I’d tried a few different sports by that time, and decided to give swimming a try. I ended up doing well and loving it and have stuck with it ever since.”

Do you have a favorite tradition with the swim team?

“There’s a bunch. Before the pandemic, after Saturday morning practices, the Varsity team would often go out to breakfast at Egg Harbor and that was always a lot of fun. I also love the TPing (toilet-paper-ing) that the team does for the girls’ swim team before the start of the season, where we’re able to drive around and throw toilet paper on the houses of the girls who are going to Sectionals.”

What’s your best memory of swimming?

“That’s tough. I’d say when our 4×100 freestyle relay team made it to state my junior year. That relay is always super competitive and high-energy, and it was awesome to get four of our guys to state in the relay.”

Do you have any pre-meet rituals you do?

“Not really. I’ll stretch and roll out with a foam roller, but not much other than that. I think it’s just little things like bringing an extra towel and doing our team’s meet warmup that get me ready to race.”

What’s going through your mind when you’re swimming a long set?

“Music. That’s the main thing. I’m also thinking about technical elements of my stroke that I’m trying to improve. Focusing on those little details that improve my swimming makes it easier to get through those sets both by making me swim faster and giving me something to focus on mentally. Throughout my swimming career I’ve done a lot of scary-looking sets, and I’ve always just sort of jumped into them. Focusing on the vastness of yardage ahead of me doesn’t change the set, so I try to just hop into the set with a ballin’ song in my head and not worry about what’s coming.” 

How has the cancellation of the state championship affected you as a qualifier for the meet?

“It’s disappointing, definitely, but it’s nice in a way. All of the guys on the Varsity team are ending their season with the same meet (the Conference meet) this year, and it’s been nice to have that amplified sense of unity as we head towards the end of the season. Usually, the team is split into different training groups operating at different levels of intensity in practice depending on how soon their final meet is. This year is different, and it’s been a nice change.” 

What are your goals for your future with swimming?

“Swimming in college is the next step in my swimming career. I think my goals will depend on what college I end up going to and what division of swimming I compete in. If I’m able to swim in college, my goals will center around building up yardage and improving my technique in practice over the summer so I’m able to be a valuable contributor to my college team in my freshman year and beyond.”

And then we tackled the hard-hitting questions:

Cake or pie?

“Pie for sure.”

What’s your favorite movie?

“Honestly, I’m not the biggest movie-watcher, but I like the Marvel movies. I know that’s a pretty unoriginal answer, but I’ve watched them for a while and have always enjoyed them.”

Go-to burrito toppings?

“Usually I go to Chipotle for a burrito. When I go there I usually get a lot of toppings, but some of my favorites are the vegetables and the sour cream.”

What’s your favorite subject in school?

“Another tough one. I get to take a bunch of awesome classes. Probably computer science (CS 3H) – that’s what I intend to major in.” 

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

“Discover the theory of everything, if there is one. If that counts.”