D14 SPORTS
MAKING A SPLASH Junior
Noah Gabriele swims freestyle
during a practice. Gabriele
has been swimming for over
12 years and four years for the
school. Photo by Lucia Gabel
Hampton dives in as varsity head coach
MAYA WAID
After graduating from West Virginia University,
HHS alum Ciara Hampton returned to take the role
of head swim and dive coach. Hampton has been
swimming competitively for many years and wanted
to return to her former school to coach.
“I started swimming competitively when I was
seven and I swam summer league up until middle
school. Then, I started doing VAST which is a year
round swim league. I swam [with] Harrisonburg for
three years and then tore a ligament in my shoulder, so
that ended swimming for me,” Hampton said. “I went
to college and got my Bachelor’s in Exercise Physiolo-
gy, so I really love exercise and athletics. When I saw
the job was posted, I thought it would be fun to try,
[especially since] I went here and swam here.”
In the first few weeks of the season, Hampton
quickly connected with the team and formed strong
relationships.
“The kids are really great. They are all really talent-
ed and very coachable, which is something I was ner-
vous about because I am new to coaching,” Hampton
JANUARY 21, 2022
said. “They all take what I say and work on the things
that I throw out, so I am really excited to see how they
do in their first [swim] meet.”
Hampton hopes to bridge the gap between her
swimmers talents based upon their past experiences
with the sport.
“There are a bunch of kids who are [new] to swim-
ming in high school. They are used to just swimming
summer league [and] the level of competition is com-
pletely different. I am really excited to see how they
improve over the season and become better swim-
mers and improving their own times. At the end of
the day, swimming is more of an individual sport than
a team sport, so I hope they [all] see improvement
with themselves [and stay motivated to keep swim-
ming,” Hampton said.
Hampton is mostly looking forward to observing
the team’s progress as she prepares for meets and hav-
ing the opportunity to coach her younger brother.
“I am really excited to see how they swim in the
first meet. I have seen them in practice, but have nev-
er seen them compete. They are swimming great in
practice, but to see how they swim at the meet is ex-
citing,” Hampton said. “Plus, my little brother is on
the team and I [convinced] him to swim this
season. I am really excited to see how he com-
petes, he is very good [and] I hope by the end of
the season he will have confidence and [I will be
able to] see his improvement.”
Despite her excitement, Hampton also real-
izes there is a learning curve to overcome when
it comes to being a head coach and juggling her
job as an exercise specialist at Augusta Health.
“I feel like I am at a slight disadvantage be-
cause I don’t work in the school system, so I
don’t know the process for things. I also work
outside of coaching and balance all of that while
figuring out what we need to do for each com-
petition. All of our meets this year are away, so
[I have to] figure out travel times and such. So
far it has been good, everyone has been super
helpful and willing to give me all the informa-
tion I need,” Hampton said.
Moving forward, Hampton hopes to encour-
age new swimmers to try out the sport and grow
the program over the next few years.
“I am anxious to see how they grow through-
out the season and next year as well. I have got a
lot of interest from eighth graders who want to
swim with the team,” Hampton said. “Seeing all
of the kids that come in next year will be really
exciting because I know in this area there are a
lot of good swimmers. The talent we have this
year is great so adding more to that next year
will be great.”
PAGE DESIGN BY MAYA WAID