Consistency is the key for Sruthi Ravi.
It’s the reason the Mountain View senior hopes to qualify for her fourth consecutive state meet this November.
It’s the reason those many early-morning practices and swimming countless lengths of the pool haven’t worn her down.
“I know what I’m going to get from her,” Mountain View coach Mark McBride said. “She’s going to show up. She’s going to work hard.”
In the 100 backstroke, Ravi placed sixth as a freshman and eighth as a sophomore. But falling short of the finals in her top event last year has added kindling to her fire.
“Going from sixth, to eighth, to tenth, it’s a reality check,” Ravi said. “I want to close out my high school career on a good note. Our season is only two months, so I want to push myself and see what I can do.”
Swimming takes plenty of dedication on its own, especially for year-round club swimmers such as Ravi.
But add in a challenging academic course load and a love of volunteering, Ravi’s success as a student-athlete becomes even more impressive.
She’s a straight-A student with a schedule full of AP classes, mostly science and math (STEM). She plans to study pre-med in college.
As a junior, Ravi was vice president of Mountain View’s Red Cross Club. She also participated in DECA and Future Business Leaders of America.
“It’s cool managing my time and trying to be part of all these different experiences because that’s high school,” she said. “You’re trying to find out who you are.”
Instead of becoming overwhelmed, Ravi said lessons learned in swimming help her outside of the pool, and vice-versa.
“It has taught be a lot about time management and perseverance,” she said. “When you’re coming to practice every day at 6 a.m. or you’re really trying on that last 100 of a set, it builds these skills that have helped me in high school. It has given me this fire. I’m not going to give up even if something is hard.”
Ravi has plenty of goals for her senior season. She is aiming to win her third district title in the 100 back. She also hopes to reach the state finals in the 50 freestyle, an event in which she has reached state three times but not made the finals.
Mostly, Ravi wants to use her position as a senior captain to inspire others.
“Just with the right leadership, you can really enjoy it,” she said. “I’ve seen the numbers for swimming dwindling, so it would be nice to get people excited. It would be nice to show people how excited we are, how much passion we have and see if it can be infectious.”
Swimmers to watch
Hailey Grotte: The La Center junior was second in state last year in both the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle.
Bryanna Ungs: The La Center sophomore placed fourth in state in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 50 freestyle.
Avery Gunderson: The Union senior placed 16th in state in the 100 butterfly.
Key dates
Oct. 6 Kelso Invite: It’s the first invitational on the schedule for most local programs.
Oct. 20 Southwest Washington Invitational: All local 2A, 3A and 4A teams gather at Mark Morris High in Longview as focus shifts toward districts.
Nov. 2-3 Districts: 3A and 4A at Kelso, 2A at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
Nov. 9-10 State: WIAA state meet at King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way
