Canton’s state-qualifying swimmers share love of sport, discipline

One habit Canton High School’s state-qualifying swimmers share is to never hit the snooze button when their alarm clock blares to awaken them for those 5:30 a.m. before-school weekday practices.

Because in the world of competitive high school swimming, if you (hit the) snooze, you lose.

“Some of my (non-swim team) classmates ask me, ‘How do you get up so early?’,” said senior Tayla Smith, one of Canton’s five individual state qualifiers. “I tell them it’s just something I have to do to reach my goals. I’m a goal-oriented person and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to reach my goals.

“I will say, though,” she added with a smile, “getting up for those morning practices is tough.”

Smith, who will be swimming for Rutgers University beginning in 2025, will be joined in Holland by individual event-qualifying teammates Hannah Gurgel, Mina Kennedy, Amelia Pan and Ximena Murillo.

Gurgel makes history

Senior Tatijana Shockling, junior Jasmine Pham and freshman Abigail McAskin qualified to swim in a relay.

Gurgel has accomplished something no Canton swimmer (including Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt) before her has: posted state-qualifying times for all eight individual events.

Gurgel, a junior who is prepping for her third consecutive state meet, started swimming at age 5 for the Farmington Glen Swim Club and the Plymouth-Canton Cruisers.

“When I was 9 or 10, I started doing better than I thought I would, then I just stuck with it,” Gurgel said. “When I was 12, I got my first cut for a meet called sectionals, which was really exciting.

“There’s a lot of work required to qualify for the state meet. It takes commitment, but if you stick with it, the hard work pays off.”

From Aqua Tots to state meet

Pan, the Cobras’ lone freshman to qualify for an individual event, learned to swim at Aqua Tots when she was in first or second grade, she recalled.

“Swimming is as much mental as it is physical,” Pan said. “You can be in great physical shape, but if you don’t have the mental part down, you probably won’t do well.

“When I’m tired and pushing myself hard, I just tell myself that 10 minutes after the race I’ll be fine.”

Kennedy first joined a swim team when she was 8 and has loved it ever since.

“My favorite highlight was probably being on a state-championship relay team with Amelia when I was 10,” she said.

A standout in the grueling 500 freestyle, Kennedy said swimming longer races comes naturally to her as she’s been doing it for close to six years.

“I credit a lot of my success to Coach Weber and my club coaches — Josh and Z Morgan,” she said. “They’ve done a lot to help me get to the level I’m at now.”

Murillo swimming journey is fascinating in that it stretches across two countries.

International journey

She lived with her family in Mexico until fifth grade when she moved to southeast Michigan following her dad’s job transfer.

“I started swimming with my parents when I was really young in Mexico,” said Murillo, who attended bilingual schools in Mexico. “When we moved to Canton, I started swimming at The Summit before joining the Plymouth-Canton Cruisers in seventh or eighth grade.

“I love swimming at Canton because it’s something you can consistently get better at if you put the work in, plus a lot of my friends swim.”

Murillo said her parents have been super-supportive throughout her swimming journey.

One of her best events is the 100 butterfly, which created temporary shoulder issues her freshman season at Canton.

“I was getting physical therapy during the season for my shoulders, but it’s a lot better now thanks to exercises I do to strengthen the muscles affected,” she said.

Life-long commitment

Competitive swimming has been a life-long activity for Smith, who was told by her parents they started taking her to get-used-to-the-water classes when she was as young as 6 months old.

“We lived in Ann Arbor when I was young, so I started swimming competitively for the Wolverine Swim Club when I was 6 or 7 years old,” she said. “We moved her when I was 8, which is when I started swimming for the Cruisers.”

Smith said she’s going to miss the amazing team atmosphere at Canton High School once her high school swimming career ends this weekend.

“I’ve built such great bonds with my teammates, who have become like sisters to me,” she said. “I’m glad I got to experience this.”

Once she arrives at Rutgers, she’s looking forward to re-connecting with former Salem swimming/soccer star Claire Hammill, who plays soccer for the Scarlet Knights.

Canton Head Coach Ed Weber said it’s nice to have at least one member of each class represented at the state meet.

“It’s a unique and special accomplishment,” he said. “All five of these girls have been great leaders for our program. It was nice because they all qualified for their events early in the season.

“Their first goal for the state meet is to make their best times. Secondly, it would be great if they could make top eight in their event, which would make them All-State. Tayla was so close last year, finishing ninth and 10th in the 50 and 100 free.”

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.