Swimming
Unlike some of us, Molly Blue doesn’t sink like a stone when she gets into a pool. But she loves to crank rock music through her iPod before a big race. “It gets me pumped up,” said Blue, who often picks the heavy-hitting sounds of Chicago metal band Disturbed.
Coach’s corner Snohomish coach John Pringle said Blue, one of three team captains, knows how to keep teammates involved. “She’s very responsible, very caring (and) very concerned that everybody feels included and part of the group,” Pringle said. “She’s just an all-around great teammate.”
Different strokes Blue, a four-year varsity team member at Snohomish, started swimming competitively at age 5. She swims the 200-yard individual medley, which combines four different strokes, and the breaststroke. Blue said she doesn’t exactly love the IM, calling it tiring and long, but she does it to help the team. She swam the breaststroke leg for Snohomish’s 200 medley relay teams the last two years at state, contributing to ninth- and seventh-place finishes. Last weekend Blue placed fifth in the district in the 100 breaststroke.
Swimming sisters Swimming is as common as eating and sleeping in Blue’s family. Two of her older sisters swam at Snohomish, including current Everett High coach Jo Blue. Molly’s younger sister, Meghan Blue, is a sophomore on the high-powered Snohomish team, which won its 10th straight district championship on Saturday.
Paddle power Proving she’s multi-talented in and out of water, Molly Blue competes for the Everett Rowing Association. She first tried rowing in the spring of her sophomore year and found that years of swimming gave her a high endurance level that’s perfect for rowing, which she hopes to do competitively in college.
Most generous moment This past summer Blue took a one-week community-service trip to New Orleans with her church youth group. She spent two days painting a church that housed volunteers and supplied food to people in the rebuilding city that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005. She also helped gut-out a water-damaged, toxic mold-ridden home. The hands-on experience was extremely rewarding, Blue said: “It was probably one of the best things I’ve ever done, and I would definitely go back.”
Dream jobs Speech pathology (Blue enjoys working with mentally challenged children) or something in the advertising or fashion industries.
Mike Cane, Herald Writer
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