Emma Gilmore hadn’t had a swimming lesson before competing in her first swim meet as an 8-year-old.

Now, at 15, she’s showcasing her skills at a national level.

Gilmore, who lives in Berryville, recently returned from participating with more than 700 swimmers in the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Greensboro, N.C. The soon-to-be sophomore at Eureka Springs High School improved her time in five of the seven events in which she competed in the 13-14 age group July 29-31.

Of the events, including the 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter breaststroke, 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter backstroke and 100-meter freestyle, her best performance was in the 400-meter individual medley, where she shaved 10.19 seconds off her time.

“My favorites were the freestyle and the breaststroke,” Gilmore said. “I dropped time on all of my events except for two and those two were my least favorite. So, I was very happy ….”

Events took place in a pool twice the size of one where Gilmore usually competes.

“I was doing the backstroke and it was a lot harder for me to get across the pool since it was longer,” she said. “It was harder for me to pace myself.”

Her parents, David and Jessica Gilmore couldn’t be happier. David Gilmore is the principal at Eureka Springs High School.

“We were really proud of her,” Jessica Gilmore said. “This is actually the third time she’s qualified [for the Junior Olympic Games]. She qualified the first year she started swimming and then when COVID hit, she had qualified. But, because of COVID, we didn’t get to go to West Virginia.

“So, this year we were very proud of her for being able to accomplish that again, to qualify to go and to just see her out there and doing what she loves to do. As a parent it makes us very proud of Emma because it’s not an easy feat to get up there and compete in front of all those people, along with all those other swimmers as well.”

When it comes to swimming, there’s not much Emma has been afraid of, her mom said.

“She’s never been afraid of anything ever since she was little,” Jessica Gilmore said. “There was a swim meet one day at the city pool, and she wanted to do it. At that time, she’d never had any swim lessons, she just taught herself to swim.

“So, we started with the local swim club at the community center and did that for a little bit and then we got her the coach that she’s with now. And from there, it just took off and she caught on quite quickly and just loves the water.”

Since Berryville doesn’t have a swim team, Emma teams up with a group from Harrison, which competes as a satellite team with a group from Mountain Home. They are coached by Jennifer Feighert.

“I just love being in the water a lot and it’s like the only sport I’ve been good at,” Emma said of her love for swimming. “I see myself doing it for as long as I’m able to. I just love doing it so much and I’ve done it since I was little, so why quit now? That’s the way I think of it.”

While she enjoys art class and being part of the yearbook staff at ESHS, swimming is the extracurricular activity that gets her main attention. And that’s just fine with her parents.

“We tried to get her to play, like soccer or basketball or volleyball but she has no interest,” Jessica Gilmore said. “It’s always been swimming, that’s what she loves to do. We’ve just let her do that because that’s what she wants. And she swims.”

Emma didn’t bring home any medals or ribbons during her time in Greensboro, but that isn’t what matters, her mom said.

“Yes, those are nice but we as parents have always told Emma it’s not about the medals or ribbons,” Jessica Gilmore said. “It’s about improving her time and having a good time doing it.”

For as long as she wants. “We will always let her decide when she doesn’t want to do it anymore, when it’s not fun to her anymore,” her mom said. “We’re not some of those parents who push the kids, and they don’t enjoy it. When she decides she wants to stop, we’ll stop. But, as of right now, we just keep plugging along and going wherever we need to go.”