ALTON - Rachel Paule, a standout distance swimmer from Alton High School, along with both the TCAY Tidalwaves and Summers Port swim clubs, signed a letter-of-intent with Illinois College of Jacksonville to swim for the Lady Blues in the 2020-21 season.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Paule, who specializes in distance races, is looking forward to the opportunity to swim for IC, an NCAA Division-III school that competes in the Midwest Conference with other schools such as Knox College in Galesburg, Lake Forest College, Monmouth College, Ripon College in Ripon, WIsc., and St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisc.
In a recent interview, Paule expressed her excitement at being able to move on to the next level.
"I feel mostly good," Paule said. "I'm excited."
Paule was attracted to Illinois College by the campus' atmosphere and the school itself.
"I really like the atmosphere, the college, and I really wanted to continue swimming," Paule said. "Plus I really like the coach (Chris Sykes)."
Paule plans to compete in the distance races, such as the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle events. She plans on majoring in communications while at Illinois College, with an emphasis on speech pathology, which Paule hopes to enter into in the future. She also considered Eastern Illinois and Missouri State before choosing IC.
Like many other swimmers, Paule has not been able to compete since the end of the high school season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the meets that the Tidalwaves would have competed in have been cancelled, and the Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association season is in jeopardy because of the pandemic. Paule was looking forward to competing with both clubs this summer season.
"I'm a little upset that I'm not going to be able to finish my time with them," Paule said, "but I've swum with both teams for a long time."
Her favorite memories of swimming for the Redbirds were competing in the sectional meets, mainly in Springfield, where she swam with her teammates that also competed on other clubs during the summer season and going against some of the best competition in the state as well.
"I really loved the meets we had in Springfield, the sectionals," Paule said. "It's not just the kids I swam with at Alton, but the kids I swam with on my clubs. Also at Alton, you had multiple kids who swam at other clubs, not just my own. The competition is harder, the times to qualify are harder, but it's still a fun meet, I really enjoyed that meet."
Paule has some simple goals for her time swimming with the Lady Blues.
"Just to drop time in my races, and improve my stamina for distance races," Paule said. "It's going to be new people, more training, harder training, new kids and a new coach. I"m really looking forward to everything."
