Ponte Vedra Swimmer Left New York to Compete in Florida
All the confusion caused by COVID-19 left student athletes wondering if sports would come back. Up north, sports restrictions are a lot more strict than it is in Florida. Ponte Vedra swimmer Caitlin Gregory decided with her family that it was time to leave New York and move to Florida so that she could continue competing and receive quality training. It was not an easy decision to leave Manhattan, but one that felt right for her future.
The decision was made due to lockdowns throughout the New York area and pools remaining closed, making swim training difficult to resume. Her family had been looking at Florida since June 2020 and made Ponte Vedra their home after researching schools and family friendly communities. The Jacksonville area was already familiar to Gregory when she previously attended swim camp at The Bolles School. Originally swimming at The Bolles School and attending for education was her first option but there wasn’t an option not to board there.
“[My parents] took me to swim camp so I could improve on my strokes because I hadn’t swam in a long time. My mom started looking up the best school districts and St. Johns came up,” said Gregory. “When I was at the swim camps she started touring houses and found Ponte Vedra and we got in contact with the swim team I’m on now, Planet Swim, and they were building a new pool right by our house and it just seemed like a good opportunity and a really nice neighborhood.”
We’re almost a year into the pandemic and Gregory says her friends back in New York still haven’t been able to get the pool time they need in order to keep up their training.
Read the rest of her story in our Northeast Florida Spring 2021 magazine right here for FREE!
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