BEMIDJI — Bemidji senior Abby Daman is a “strong silent example of what hard work can look like.”
Her swim coach Lisa Freidt said that’s why she nominated Daman to be KAXE’s first North Star Student.
“I would just love to highlight how much she has embraced being a leader on this team,” Freidt said. “ ... She is always willing to step up and volunteer her time, especially when it comes to swim team involvement. She is one to show up to practice and WORK, she really takes on any challenging task without complaining.
“I hope she realizes that what she is doing and learning during her years swimming can and will also carry over into other parts of her life.”
Daman knows she’s learned a lot about leadership. Swimming has also made her more vocal and outgoing. That’s part of why she stuck with it.
“Swimming is definitely not an easy sport,” she said. “It can be mentally and physically really challenging. So, it’s really helped me in that aspect of things, and I’ve met a lot of really cool people through the sport.”
Daman started swimming with the Bemidji Area Super Swimmers club at age 5. Her brother, 12 years her senior, got her into it.
Her favorite individual race is the 100 breaststroke, but she also swims the 200 individual medley, the 200 and 500 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay. The 200 free relay “is pretty awesome, too.”
“I just have my best friends on the relay team with me, and it’s super fun,” she said.
Her friends — and their antics — mark the best memories. Like two years ago, when they stole a small cone from every meet.
This year, the 200 free relay is chasing a record. At last year’s section meet, the relay was just shy of setting a school record. But their times are better this year.
“At practice every day, I feel like we’re talking about what each of us has to split individually to make the time,” she said. “ ... We think about it every day, especially meets, too. I feel like we’re constantly trying to cut time off our previous time to hopefully just give us motivation even more for sections to break the record.”
Daman’s also trying to make state for the first time in her career. She nearly met the qualifying time in the 100 breast last season.
She and the rest of the Bemidji team will compete in the Section 8AA meet in Brainerd on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8, for a chance to advance.
But looking back at her time swimming, the close calls and regular season wins aren’t what she’s most proud of: It’s her positive mindset.
“Sometimes after a bad race, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, that was just awful.’ But I’ve never tore myself down to a point where I’m just like, ‘I’m absolutely not doing this anymore,’” she said.
“I just hope I have made a lasting impact on the younger girls on the team and that they can look up to me and hopefully in the future they want to have some of my traits.”
Daman started swimming varsity relays in seventh grade. She learned a lot from her older teammates and wants to pass that down, too. Her biggest lesson? You have to work hard to get what you want but have fun doing it.
Coach Danielle Bartz said Daman is a wonderful human being.
“She’s a hard worker. She’s positive. She’s a good student-athlete, and so I think she’s got a good holistic picture of working toward the academic and the athlete part and being a good role model for everybody,” Bartz said. “She’s inspiring to me every day.”
Outside of the pool, Daman is proud of her work ethic. Doing homework every night after school for two-and-a-half hours sucks, she said.
“But also, you feel good when you have the grades you do.”
Daman also plays basketball and Unified Sports, playing alongside students with intellectual disabilities.
She started her freshman year when she took Bemidji’s Unified gym class.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this would be kind of cool because I know some people with intellectual disabilities.’ So it’s like, ‘Oh, it’d be fun to be having the class with them,’” Daman said.
“And then ever since, I just fell in love with the kids in the class. And it’s just an amazing opportunity for me and for them.”
Daman is considering swimming in college but doesn’t know where she’ll land yet. She plans to study nursing.
North Star Student is a series from the KAXE News Team, featuring Northern Minnesota students who deserve to be recognized, whether because of athletic accomplishments, artistic endeavors, academic achievements or other efforts.
