Olympian Bella Sims to Return Home to Sandpipers to Train for Summer

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Olympian Bella Sims to Return Home to Sandpipers to Train for Summer

Bella Sims has been away from home for a long time.

After finishing up her time at the University of Florida, Sims moved to Ann Arbor when she transferred to Michigan.

That hasn’t left a lot of time to get back to Las Vegas and the Sandpipers club. Sims is looking forward to a little time closer to home this summer.

“I am going home for the summer. Last summer I didn’t get to go home,” Sims told Swimming World. “I know what Ron (Aitken) does works for me. I want to go home and not risk anything. I will head home with Claire (Weinstein) and the crew.”

The NCAA championships made her even more excited as Sims won the 400 IM and Weinstein won the 500 freestyle.

“Michigan and Cal sat next to each other at NCAAs,” Sims said. “It was so awesome. I was cheering for her so much. I wish so much success for the Sandpiper girls, but to see her do so well has been so exciting.”

Now, the two Olympians will get some training in together. But Sims is looking for some different things out of the summer as she prepares for nationals.

“I am hoping Ron lets me swim some butterfly,” Sims said. “I have so much hope in my 200 fly, but I just haven’t been able to unleash the best. It was always the same day as something. I hope that I can some more confidence in that event. I will stay doing a lot of events. But I hope butterfly is more of an option.”

It is part of the versatile mindset that Aitken instilled in Sims from a young age.

“I don’t think I ever had a main event,” Sims said. “I joined Ron’s group when I was in eighth grade. When you are little, you dabble in all the strokes. I was backstroker, then a flyer, then distance and now back to the backstroke. But I hated the backstroke in eighth grade. I would do anything to swim fly. That is what my mind was set to. He wanted me to swim all the events that I wanted, but he didn’t want any events to define me. It panned out to be perfect for me. If I am ever tired of any events, I have so many others that I can do.

“I love being versatile like that.”

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