Collin Gore remembered
Hart High School holds candlelight vigil for recent graduate and co-captain of the school’s boys varsity swimming team.
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Residents of the Santa Clarita Valley and students at Hart High School spent their Fourth of July remembering one of their own, Collin Gore.
The 18-year-old Hart High School varsity swimmer was one of two killed in a fiery, head-on collision near McBean Parkway and Decoro Drive shortly after midnight Tuesday.
Gore, a recent graduate of Hart High School, was cocaptain of Hart’s Boys Varsity Swimming Team and was planning on “taking his talents” to San Diego State University in the fall.
“Absolutely heartbroken today,” Hart High School said on its Twitter page.
Hart High School held a candlelight vigil for Gore at the school’s quad Tuesday at 8 p.m. The 2017 Swim Team’s varsity captains asked attendees to wear Hart Swim spirit wear in support of their teammate and friend.
Hart High School Swim Coach Steve Neale said Gore was always generous with himself and his friends, willing to help anyone who needed him.
“He has that positive attitude where he can take difficult situations and turn it into a fun event for everyone around him,” Neale said. “If Collin was leading the parade you definitely wanted to join in and he had this gift of activating people and getting them to join in.”
Neale remembered how Gore spent time with one of his teammates who was injured in a car accident a year ago by bike riding with him to the pool and helping with his rehabilitation.
“He’s that kind of guy that would reach out and help when it was needed,” he said. “Anything he could do to include anybody and help anybody he was there for him… He was a ‘papa bear’ type.”
On Tuesday, friends and teammates of Gore took to social media to remember the high school graduate.
“Collin, I love you, I’ll miss you, and I know I will never forget you. What a loss,” wrote Greg Borish, a Hart High School AP Calculus and AP Computer Science teacher on Twitter.
Adam Osowski, a recent Hart grad and swimmer, said he was at a loss of words Tuesday morning.
“You were one of my best friends since 1st grade,” Osowski shared on Twitter. “The world won’t be the same without you Collin. R.I.P.”
Others shared how Gore could light up a room, lift up spirits and make anyone laugh.
The Old Orchard II Shark Swim Team shared news of Gore’s passing on its Facebook page. According to the post, Gore aged out of the team’s 15/16 age group last year.
“I am so saddened to tell you all we have lost one of our own, Collin Gore,” the post read. “We are all so devastated by this loss…. He was full of energy and had an amazing spirit.”
The team is expect to hold its own team memorial and provide meals for the family later in the week.