Although the Sedona Red Rock High School girls’ varsity swim team had two seniors graduate last year, one of whom was record holder Sarina McCullough, the team’s 2024-25 practice season is off to a strong start. 

“We already have great team culture, ”Head Coach Jodi Thornton said. This year’s girls’ varsity lineup consists of senior Yemayasil Guadarrama, junior Angelina Paley and sophomore Zinnia Mykkanen, who are led by senior Alana Schrader. 

“I am super-confident because [Colin Ledbetter] and Alana are the captains of the team and they’re really taking the younger kids and making sure everybody knows what they’re doing,” Thornton said. 

“Everybody’s got some level of swimming experience or athletic experience.” “A lot of [my teammates] are brand-new,” Schrader said.  “There’s about five freshmen … I doubt we’ll go to state [but] we’ll get a lot better too. So I’ll be proud wherever we end up.” 

Schrader said that she feels much more responsible for the team after being on the roster throughout high school and qualifying for state last season in the breaststroke, as well as slowly improving in her new role. She also said that she considers herself to be a noncompetitive person because she would rather succeed as a team than individually. 

“It helps that any time anyone has a little victory, it feels like mine, too, because I’m part of the [team], because I’m the leader,” Schrader said. 

Schrader said her goals for the team are for everyone to better themselves athletically and personally, for the team to cut their times and for everybody to be proud of themselves, while her personal goals are improving her hunch breaststroke and having fun while doing it. 

“I hope they become proud of their accomplishments through the season and that they are happy with their times and what they’ve managed to do, and I hope I can help them at least a little bit,” Schrader said. 

In contrast to Schrader, Mykkanen said she has a more competitive nature because she hates when other swimmers pass her. 

“I love beating people,” Mykkanen said. “[It] sounds bad but I’m very competitive. I love feeling fast. It gives me such a mood booster … I was smiling ear-to-ear when I saw the pool.” 

Swimming is a family affair for Mykkanen because her mother, uncle and cousins were all swimmers, and she noted that her family is also extremely competitive. 

“My goal is to get to nationals level … but I don’t know if that’ll come before or after college, or if I will ever achieve that,” Mykkanen said. 

“She could be right at the top at state [because] she’s working really hard,” Thornton said. During her freshman year, Mykkanen qualified for state finals in the 100-yard backstroke and 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. Although she is on track to break multiple school records, she said she has felt herself to be in a performance slump recently. 

“I’m an academic achiever but I still give it my best that I can in swimming,” Guadarrama said, adding that her main goal is to succeed in school and that comes before anything else. 

Guadarrama started swimming when she was around four or five and began doing so again last year, inspired by her brother, who swam for the Scorpions throughout high school. Although Guadarrama did not make it to state last year, she said she hopes to cut her times and do better this year. 

“I want to give it my all every meet, I want to be supportive. I want be happy about this [swim season],” Guadarrama said. 

Paley has been swimming since she was 10. This is her first year performing at the varsity level, and she is also on the Sedona Race Pace swim team. 

“Definitely getting faster, I have good stamina,” Paley said of her goals and motivation. “The thing I need to work on is speed. I’m swimming so I can just stay fit. It’s good exercise.” 

Although Paley said that she feels going to state would be an accomplishment, she also said it would not be as important as swimming and having fun. “I feel like they’re good people,” Paley said. “I don’t know them on a personal level, but I am [excited] to learn more about them the longer I am on the team.” 

The first home meet will take place on Thursday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m., with the Scorpions taking on Prescott Varsity and Gilbert Christian. “[This season] is going to be so exciting,” Thorton said. “We have so many involved, passionate kids here.”