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Shelley heading to Ft. Lauderdale

The scenery alone was enough to motivate him to commit. Jim Shelley didn’t need too long of a visit to NOVA Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale to make up his mind.

“I went down and visited in Janaury,” Shelley said. “I walked off the plane and it was 78 degrees outside and thought, ‘Four years here would be good.’”

Shelley was a year round athlete during his first two years at Western, juggling football, basketball, lacrosse and his swimming. But in the last two years he focused on his work in the pool exclusively.

“When I started in high school I knew I was going to have to make a decision on what sport I wanted to play,” Shelley said. “During my junior year, I decided that swimming would be that sport.”

Outside of the weather, new facilities recently put in place — including a brand new pool — and Southeastern’s recent rise helped Shelley cement his decision.

“It’s exciting to know where I’m going and have it under the rug,” Shelley said.

At the Group AA championship Shelley finished fifth in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 butterfly. He was the Jefferson District champion in the 50 free and swam legs for the Warriors’ second place 200 and 400 free relay teams to help give Western the team title.

Shelley gives his family a second collegiate swimmer now as his sister, Caitlin, a 2007 Western graduate, swims for the University of Maine.

 

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