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Curtis Senior High School girls swim and dive team looks to defend state title

In this week's Prep Zone Chris Egan heads to Curtis High School where the Vikings are tapering up to defend their title.

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Ashleigh Guidoux and her husband Jon opened up University Place CrossFit in 2017.

"Our motivation is to make people healthier and when you have that as a goal, it's going to work," said Ashleigh Guidoux.

But when she's not coaching CrossFit, you'll find Guidoux at Curtis High School, home to one of the most decorated swim, dive, and water polo programs in the state.

"University Place school district builds swimming into the PE curriculum," she said. "Second-graders, sixth-graders, eighth-graders, they get swimming as part of their PE, so at an early age, kids learn, 'Hey, I like swimming and this could be my sport,' or 'I like water polo and this could be my sport.'" 

She became an All-American in swimming and water polo at Curtis. Now she's paying it forward. Guidoux took over as the head coach last year and led the Vikings to their first-ever girls state team title.

"That was extremely fun, I remember jumping up and down, crying tears of joy," said athlete Gaby Lopez. "That was one of the best experiences of my life, especially being the first to do it."

Gaby Lopez is just one of the many talented swimmers on the Curtis High team.

The Viks win because they have depth. 

"Everyone here is so talented, and we all have our strengths and weaknesses, it just pushes you to be the best you can be," said swimmer Lauren Ledesma. 

"We stop at the walls and give each other high-fives, motivate each other, we are really all their to push each other so we can win that state title," Lopez added. 

"This is the most competitive team I've ever swam on, in my life, not speed wise, but the mentality of this team is extremely competitive, every single one of us is pushing the other one to be the best and honestly I think that is one of the reasons we are so fast," said swimmer Hayden Hoover.

Another reason they're fast: CrossFit training.

"These are not club swimmers that go to the King County Aquatic Center after practice, this is a group of really hard working girls, who are great athletes and that crosses over with their strength training," Guidoux said. "We incorporate that and a three times a week we do CrossFit-style workouts."

Lopez said, "I wholeheartedly believe has contributed to my explosiveness at the blocks to my flip turns at the wall." 

"It works on your coordination and quick twitch fiber muscles to get on and off the blocks, and it helps with your athleticism and all things in the pool," said May Guidoux.

But don't let all the hard work fool you, this team also wins because they have fun.

Many of the girls on the swim team have also helped Curtis win three straight water polo state titles.

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