Swimming, art and theatre tech may not seem to have much in common. Swimming uses strong movements, while art and tech require fine motor skills. Swimming and tech perform in front of an audience, while art is more solitary, as well as countless other distinctions. At Revere High School, they all have one common denominator: Julia Grandon. 

Grandon takes part in NAHS, Varsity swimming, tech and is the historian of RSJ. Teammates and friends attest that she does it all with a smile on her face and enthusiastic attitude. 

Grandon competes on the Varsity swim team and primarily competes in the 50 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.

“I’m on the swim team, it’s pretty fun. I’m like the only girl on our team that swims distance for the most part and enjoys it, which is weird because it’s not that bad,” Grandon said.

Grandon describes her swimming experience before she entered high school.

“From sixth to eighth grade, I did club synchronized swimming with the Brecksville Blue Dolphins. [In] my seventh-grade year, there’s not a lot of club [synchronized swimming] programs in Ohio, so a lot of the time we had to travel over to Buffalo NY, or Pennsylvania for our meets. In my seventh-grade year, the junior Olympics were in New York near Buffalo,” Grandon said. 

Grandon describes the niche she found on the swim team when she reached high school.

“I swam [on a] club [team] before high school and ultimately what I did then was I just swam whatever my coach told me to, and my mom also just put me in whatever [event.] When I got to high school, nobody swam the 500. They needed somebody to swim it, and so I did it,” Grandon said.

Grandon describes the significance of the 500.

“Out of all the events in swim, there are 3 relays and a handful of individual events, but the longest one there is the 500 freestyle. Our only distance events are the 200 and the 500. The 500 itself is 20 laps, so back and forth 10 times,” Grandon said.

Due to the longer distance of the 500 in comparison to other events, it operated under slightly different rules. Grandon describes the differences. 

“The thing about the 500 is that it’s the only event where they don’t trust you to count it yourself, so you have one of your teammates count the laps for you. It’s very useful so I can zone out and keep going,” Grandon said.

Grandon describes her experience swimming the 500 during a competition for the first time in high school.

“My mom knew that I was nervous about it, so she told me to sing a song. The first time I swam it last year was at the Kent Roosevelt meet, and I kept singing ‘Carry on My Wayward Son’ over and over again, but just that one line,” Grandon said.

After getting more practice swimming the 500, Grandon has developed a different technique.

“This year, I pay more attention to my time. When they shake the board that means you have to pick up the pace so you can stay on pace. Now I think more about keeping up with the people around me and putting more power into my legs and going faster,” Grandon said.

Grandon’s practice resulted in her showing an improved time throughout the season.

“My personal record is 5 minutes [and] 49 seconds. I broke 6 minutes at our gym event this year, and I didn’t go below 6 minutes for the next couple of meets, and then we had our sectionals and I PR’d in my 50 and my 500. It’s about a 34-second pace,” Grandon said.

Grandon describes the ranking system for swim sectionals.

“The top twenty in each event of sectionals from the eight sections move on to districts, and the top thirty in each event in districts of the four districts go onto states. For sectionals and districts, if you get first or second in your event, you automatically qualify for the next [round], and for sectionals, I got first in the 50-free,” Grandon said.

Due to different schools’ pools having different numbers of lanes, if the number of competitors for an event outnumbers the number of lanes, they divide into heats. Grandon describes her experience placing first in the 50-freestyle in sectionals.

“I was not seeded first, the time I went in with was a 27.4, which put me into the second heat. The girl who swam and got second overall and got first in her heat swam a 25.86. I don’t know where it came from honestly. I’m not a sprinter and I haven’t swum the 50 at all this year, I just pulled a 25.85 out of pocket, and I was the sectional champion,” Grandon said.

Grandon also enjoys creating art and is a part of the National Art Honors Society. 

“I enjoy doing digital art, which is why I’m really excited that there’s going to be a digital art class next year. I like colored pencil renderings. I enjoy drawing myself and seeing how all the shadows and different details go into it,” Grandon said.

Grandon has been in the Restorative Social Justice club for two years and became the historian this year. RSJ creates presentations and discusses various topics relating to social justice issues.

“I like making the slides and presentations,” Grandon said.

Additionally, Grandon does tech for Revere Players and helps to paint the sets.

“For set construction, a lot of the kids that do it are in band. I do whatever I can, but during the winter I get really busy with swimming, so I don’t have opportunities to show up,” Grandon said.

Julia describes her personality and what she believes sets her apart.

“I like to be friends with as many people as possible. I just like to talk to people a lot. I have a tendency to be very loud,” Grandon said. 

RSJ club president and fellow crew member Anthea Phan described Grandon.

“I’ve known her since third grade, but we didn’t get close until last year. [She’s] really energetic about the things that she does, she doesn’t do things that are just fluff. She’s very dedicated to things, especially swimming. She gets things done,” Phan said.

Phan explained Grandon’s role in RSJ.

“She’s very involved; she likes to take notes a lot. We have a special position called the ‘Julia position’ where she just does everything. Anything that I can’t do sometimes or I’m in a pinch and need someone to help me, she’s the one to go to,” Phan said.

Phan described how Grandon shows her passion for art.

“She has an art account on Instagram; she talks about it a lot. She’s in NAHS. She shows her art projects at lunch. She really loves art class; she never wants to miss it,” Phan said.

Both Phan and Grandon participated in tech for Players last year by controlling the lighting. Phan describes their different experiences. 

“Last year for the musical for Oliver, she was up in [spotlight] and I was down here, and I jump back and forth sometimes. She talks a lot about how it wasn’t the best option for her since she has really shaky hands. So she’s like, ‘I never want to do that again’,” Phan said.  

Phan describes Grandon and her personality as it relates to her different activities.

“She’s energetic about what she does. Energetic about going to school, unless [it’s] in the morning, she’s not a morning person at all. Going to school, going to swim, going to clubs, she tries to get everything done,” Phan said. 

Carla Nemer is a swimmer on Revere’s varsity swim team for three  years and has known Grandon for two years.

“I usually do the 100 fly, or the 100 breast, or relays. [Grandon and I] swam together as long as she’s been swimming. She’s extremely hardworking. During swim season, she completely dedicates herself to swim. That’s all she thinks about, all she talks about, swim,” Nemer said.

Nemer described Julia’s demeanor while on the team.

[She’s] really fun to be around. She just makes practice fun. She takes on the burden of the entire team and does the 500. She excels at it. She definitely brings an element of fun. When it’s time to race and time to get back to it, she becomes that serious person that you want on your team. I’m so proud of her; she’s come so far from last season to this season,” Nemer said.

Though she devotes herself to swim during the season, Grandon finds time to share her energy with many different activities and clubs whenever she can.