Palisade Senior, Izzy Meyer, is the female Athlete of the Week brought to you by Palisade Dino Mart. With the arrival of winter sports, Meyer is off to a great swim season.
This is Meyer’s second year of swimming. “In swimming, my main race is breaststroke, but I swim all of them,” said Meyer. “I started swimming because my friends were really into it. I wanted to try something new because I have done a bunch of different sports throughout high school. I feel like I have always had a natural pull to it because I am a lifeguard, so pre reqs came pretty easy to me.” Meyer has been lifeguarding for the past three years and has been swimming for the past two years. “I think it is going really well considering that it is so different from last year. Last year there were like 40 girls, which was insane for a swim team. This year we backed down to 20ish, which I am enjoying, as well as the personal connections and actually having space in the lane.” Meyer would say that even 20 is a lot. It is usually a 12 person team.
Being a student athlete can be a challenge and different students may handle it differently. “I take concurrent classes all morning and then I come to Palisade in the afternoon,” said Meyer. “It is kind of interesting because with practices at CMU we don’t get to start till 7:15 pm, so I have to do all of my homework immediately after school. I have given myself a lot of teacher aids and free time to be able to balance that, as well as to do that together.” Within being an athlete and a student, Meyer has been inspired by a 2023 graduate who was on the swim team last year. “Mallory Cawood has been an inspiration to me,” said Meyer. “She was incredible and was such an encouragement. She was so much better than the rest of us, but she was always humble and was there for everybody. I feel like she definitely left her mark on the team.”
Swimming is something that Meyer has stuck with and has really enjoyed. “My favorite thing is definitely the people,” said Meyer. “Everyone on the team is so genuine and fun, as well as always smiling and cheering each other on. The environment is definitely my favorite.” Outside of swimming and the life of being a student athlete, Meyer shared her other enjoyments. “I really love spending time with people,” said Meyer. “I like to go get coffee and I really enjoy rock climbing with people or hiking. I really like Kiln Coffee Bar, but Enstroms has my favorite vanilla latte.”
Advice Meyer would give to an incoming athlete is: “To any athlete I would just say talk to people and talk to the upperclassmen. They may seem intimidating, and yes, they are better than you, but that is how you form those relationships and that’s how you get better.” Meyer has definitely seen growth from last year to now. She sets an example of determination and what it means to keep moving forward. Congratulations Izzy Meyer on a good start to the season and on Athlete of the Week!
