Often times the love of a sport will push someone to beyond their physical limitations. Junior Samantha Dillion injured her right shoulder several months ago when swimming during practice. Although the pain was often times unbearable, she continued to swim and push through it.

“My shoulder hurt, but I had to keep swimming- it’s a true passion.  I’ve been swimming for eight years it really is the only sport I ever want to do,” Dillion said.

Dillion wants to continue to swim, meaning that she will have to go through intense physical therapy and sessions with the athletic director, Jeff Snow. Although with the therapy comes pain, she sticks with her workouts in hopes of being able to get back in the water. The chance of her being able to swim again for the high school swim team is destined to be a hard battle, but she is willing to do everything it takes to continue to do what she loves most.

“I’ve been working with Coach Snow for a few months now. He said that if my shoulder continues to heal like it has been and if I can make it to a full recovery, I can continue to swim and possibly participate in other sports,” Dillion said.

Although she will continue her swimming career, she has decided to take on a new challenge. Dillion hopes to have a fully-healed arm in the near future, and wants to broaden her horizons and participate in more sports. She will be trying out for the women’s rugby team next season, and has been conditioning for it.

“I’m really excited to try something new. I’ve never really done anything besides swim, but I want to try and branch out more. My friends have been trying to get me to join for a while now, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. My shoulder hurts sometimes, but I don’t really notice it as much anymore,” Dillion said.