Aanika Schueler is a sophomore here at West Morris Mendham who competes on both the swim and track and field teams. She began both of these sports at a young age and has been competing in them ever since.

“I began swimming when I was eleven, competitively,” Schueler explains. She has always loved swimming and she first tried out for a club team when she was ten. “The first time, I did not get in,” Schueler admits. “But the second time I tried out, when I was eleven, I did.” As for track, she first began in third grade, when she saw a flyer advertising the Chester team. Her dad, who ran track when he was in high school, encouraged Schueler to take up the sport. “So, I did, and I just loved running,” she said. “So, I kept doing it, and I’ve been running ever since.”

She explains that both of the sports are very enjoyable for her. She enjoys track because of her love of running and she explains “only [doing] it for one season each year” adds to the enjoyability of the spot for her.

As for her athletic achievements, in 2018, Schueler made it to Nationals for swimming the 100 backstroke and will be going to Nationals again this year. This year, she is also going to the Meet of Champions for high school swimming. There, she will be participating in two individual events as well as two relays. Recently, she has also been nominated in a poll on Nj.com for the best teenage swimmers in the state. For track, Schueler participated in the Groups Meet in 2018 for the 4 x 400 group relay. To make it to Groups, Schueler had to finish in the top six at sectionals, and their 4 x 400 relay came in sixth, bringing them to Group. Schueler also came in fourth at County Championships in the four hundred meter dash last season.

As a follow-up to how she has been able to achieve so many accomplishments, Schueler later explains how having a certain mentality is important in achieving success. She tells us that a positive mentality is very important because having a “negative mentality going into” it there is a higher chance of not doing well. She explains that when competing, it is important to avoid the thought of being unable to do it.

Of course, practice is also important, and Schueler explains that during the season, for both sports, there are practices nearly every day. Schueler also admits that it can be hard to balance schoolwork and practicing for these sports. “Swimming especially takes up a lot of your time,” Schueler says. “I do end up staying late a lot of nights. But it’s okay, because I love my sports.”

Schueler also explains that she has formed a close friendship with her fellow swimmers and runners. Doing both of these sports opened up the opportunity for new friends. The others on the team are there to support everyone and Schueler explains how before a race she will “talk to people and focus on stretching before [swimming or running] [to] take [her] mind off of” anything that could be distracting to her.