{"id":572316,"date":"2023-11-09T07:09:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T14:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=572316"},"modified":"2023-11-09T07:09:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T14:09:38","slug":"illinoiss-cara-bognar-opening-community-based-nil-avenues-through-top-tier-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/illinoiss-cara-bognar-opening-community-based-nil-avenues-through-top-tier-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois\u2019s Cara Bognar Opening \u2018Community-Based NIL\u2019 Avenues through Top Tier Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Illinois\u2019s Cara Bognar Opening \u2018Community-Based NIL\u2019 Avenues through Top Tier Lessons<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cara Bognar<\/strong> was seven years old when she had an interaction that didn\u2019t change her swimming trajectory so much as supercharged it.<\/p>\n

The native of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, loved swimming. When Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones<\/strong> came to town to meet with her team, she leapt at the chance. Getting a glimpse of someone who\u2019d reached the highest levels of the sport was a revelation. Seeing what it meant to her small swimming community \u2013 the quaintly named Travelers Rest has a population of around 8,000 people \u2013 underscored the importance to her swimming family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny opportunity I had as a child to meet people who were able to take swimming to the next level was important,\u201d Bognar said Wednesday. \u201cThere were not a lot of professional athletes in swimming when you compare it to baseball or football, just not that many that have that avenue. As a little girl, being able to see someone make a career out of the sport that I loved so much was so inspiring me.\u201d<\/p>\n