Trinity Ward

Mt. Lebanon

The past week: Ward won her first PIAA swimming title in the 100 fly with a time of 54.14. Check this out: The title was the first of its kind for the Mt. Lebanon sophomore. The Blue Devils placed third overall with 140 points. Ward also placed third in the 100 freestyle and her 400 freestyle relay team placed fourth.

 Were you surprised to win a title as a sophomore? I like to visualize my races and mentally prepare leading up. And I obviously set goals, too. It was a goal to win but kind of one of those goals where I was like, ‘You know, I know it might not happen this year. It’s OK if it doesn’t happen.’ I wasn’t really expecting it. It was a goal I wanted to achieve sometime in my high school career, but the fact that it happened this year was unbelievable and I just felt so incredibly blessed.  Why did you gravitate toward swimming? Did you ever think you could do another sport? So, whenever I was younger, I did swim lessons just like every other kid. This is going to sound so silly — I like feeling like a dolphin or a mermaid underwater. And I think that’s why I like butterfly so much, too. You feel like a dolphin the most. I didn’t join the swim team until third grade, but just the feeling in the water is so cool, just to be able to hop in the water and have that connection to the pool is cool.

 So was The Little Mermaid your favorite Disney princess growing up? She was definitely one of my favorites. That and Cinderella, because I look like Cinderella. Well, I have blonde hair and blue eyes, so she’s the one I resemble the most. I’ve dressed up as her for Halloween.

 What would you like your swimming career at Mt. Lebanon to look like? I would definitely like to be able to win a WPIAL and state title with my team. I think that would absolutely be awesome. And I want to step up as a team leader on the team and push the girls around me. I think that would be awesome, and I’d obviously like to capture more state titles, and all that good stuff. And just push myself to be the best I can be in the sport, because that’s ultimately what it’s all about.

 Trinity is a unique name. Did your parents ever tell you why they chose that one? Yeah, it’s kind of a funny story. My parents all wanted us to have biblical names. My younger brother is named Samuel, my little sister’s name is Esther, and so “The Matrix” came out around the time I was going to be born. And the main character is Trinity, and both my parents really liked her, and then Trinity is a biblical name, too, so it just worked out perfectly for them.