Hitting the deck again for a new season of swim, Amanda Graves has a new perspective, as the head varsity coach, after years of leading the JV team.

Graves has been swimming since she was eight years old, and received a division 1 scholarship to Luisiana, and after  getting injured she transferred to California Lutheran University. Even though she has been coaching JV since 2010, coaching varsity has always been something she has wanted to do.

Graves became the head coach of swim after Scott Manninien stepped down as varsity coach. Manninien had been the Head Coach for 8 years. He stepped down after “not having anything left to give” in regards to the swim team.

“She’s going to bring the aquatics program to a heightened level with her expertise on swimming, and bring a new energy to the program,” Manninien said.

Only this year has she had the opportunity to become head coach of the program.

“Coaching with her was one of the best peer relationships I’ve had working with another person,” Manninien said.

She brings out the best in people, whether individually or as a team. 

“She’s never going to sit there and make you feel belittled, she treats everyone equally,” senior Breanna Summers said.

With this new position, Graves has entered the spotlight once again, this time to shine as a figure of inspiration.

“As soon as Mr. Manninien told me he was going to be stepping away from coaching, I knew that I wanted to put my name in for the position of head coach,” Graves said.

As head coach, Graves has a vision for the season to come. 

“She’s going to bring the team together as a family,” Manninien said, “That’s something we always strive for when I worked with her.”