In the buzz of finals, when adrenaline peaks and the air around the pool hums with nervous energy, Clara McDonough stood behind the starting blocks as a freshman.

It was her first high school state meet. She had spent the season proving she belonged on the team just as much as her accomplished older sister (a senior at the time), working her way into a relay spot with swimmers years older.

Suddenly, her focus shattered as she adjusted her goggles and tried to still her thoughts.

Her older sister had just dived in for her leg of the relay. Clara watched in disbelief as her sister’s goggles slipped off mid-race. A jolt of panic surged through her. This was not how she imagined the moment unfolding.

It was supposed to be a celebration, a full-circle moment. Clara had grown up in the water with her sister ahead of her, both in age and ability. They trained together. They pushed each other. Now they were on the same relay at state, and this was their chance to shine.

Instead, Clara watched helplessly, heart pounding, afraid everything might fall apart.

Luckily, her sister is a pro and resurfaced with a smile. No frustration. No breakdown. Only joy that they had made it there together.

“It kind of didn’t matter how well I did after that,” Clara said, looking back. “It felt like such a fulfilled moment. I was there. I had made it. I got to swim with her.”

That sense of perspective would shape Clara’s entire swim journey.

Rise to That Level

Clara first entered the sport when she was just four years old. Her mom had been a swimmer at Cottonwood High School, just down the road from her own high school, Alta. It was important to her mom that her children learned to swim early.

Clara remembers her early swim teacher, Coach Liz, as someone who helped shape her drive. Liz pushed her in just the right way, tapping into Clara’s competitive streak and giving her confidence in the water. As Clara got older, that competition sharpened. She wanted to keep up with her older sister. She wanted to be better. That internal rivalry wasn’t born of jealousy, but of motivation. She knew what it looked like to work hard and wanted to rise to that level herself.

She started swimming competitively around age ten, but the moment that changed everything came in middle school. She had qualified for a state meet with her club team. Just hours before the race, her coach pulled her from the relay and replaced her with another swimmer who had clocked in a few milliseconds faster. Another coach, Valerie, stepped in. She fought for Clara to get her spot back, arguing that the work she had put in all season mattered more than a single time trial. Clara was reinstated.

The experience was humbling, and it lit a fire.

“I remember thinking, I have to prove I deserve this,” Clara said. “I didn’t want anyone to doubt my place again.”

That mindset carried her into high school, where she balanced the intensity of swim life with an increasingly heavy academic load. By junior year, things were overwhelming. She was swimming four hours every other day while taking a full schedule of AP classes. Meets were constant. Homework was relentless. She began to question how much longer she could keep going.

“There were times I really thought about quitting,” she admitted. “But I’d go to a meet and see everyone pushing themselves just as hard and remember why I started.”

The Effort Meant Something

She stayed; she kept growing. Her coaches and family created a support system that reminded her of her value. Her sister helped with homework. Her parents encouraged her through the chaos. Every medal at regionals and every breakthrough at practice reminded her that the effort meant something.

Now, as she is about to graduate from high school, while being a part-time swim coach herself at Dimple Dell Rec Center, Clara sees how far she’s come. She channels everything Coach Liz taught her into the young swimmers she now guides. She teaches them how to correct their form, how to find joy in the process, and how to believe in themselves. She is not planning to swim in college, but the sport has not left her life. To younger swimmers looking up to her, she offers simple but powerful advice:

“Be confident in your skills. The harder you work, the more you’ll see your effort pay off. Every time you fix something in your stroke or stay after practice, it adds up. You don’t always see it right away, but it shows in the way you race.”

Clara McDonough’s story transcends further than her wins and swim record, it is about who she became in the lanes, the chaos she faced, and the calm she learned to find on the other side of every dive.