Mitchell Case is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Barry Goldwater for AZPreps365.com

Emily Weiser was supposed to be a key swimmer this year for Barry Goldwater High, competing in the 200-yard freestyle and a relay in a season in which the Bulldogs needed every swimmer it could get.

Unfortunately for Weiser, she had a heart problem that prevented her from competing, but that didn't stop her from being part of the team.

Weiser, a foreign-exchange student from Germany, accepted an important role as team manager. While she can’t compete, Weiser does everything she can on the pool deck to help her team have success.

“We were obviously hoping she was gonna be able to swim and then it ended up just not working out,'' coach John Bundy said.  "So we asked her if she still wants to be involved with the team as a manager role, which obviously for the bigger sports, almost every team has them. In swim, they are not as common but we were like, "OK, she loves this sport. She wants to be around it.'”

Weiser goes above and beyond to help her teammates.

“Just anything we need, from timing people to giving little bits of advice to the other swimmers,'' Bundy said. "She's been really awesome at that."

Even though Weiser can’t compete, she's happy with how she has fit in with the team.

“I might not be allowed to swim, but I feel like they support me and appreciate me and I appreciate them,'' Weiser said. "It means the world to me that they want my opinion and I know that even when the season is over or when I’m back in Germany I will have this team and these friends."

Mary Vanhoy, Weiser’s host mom, has been pleased with how Weiser has approached the obstacles she has faced and what she has done to help the team.

“She just wants to get the most out of her experience here,” Vanhoy said.

Weiser said high school sports here are different than what she's experienced in Germany.

“My school had sports, but they were only electives or clubs and they were more fun to do with friends,'' she said. "Here in the USA sports are way more competitive.”

Bundy appreciates what Weiser and exchange-student Mar Segarra Guillen bring to the team, not just with their talent, but also their cultures and perspectives.

“Yeah, that’s the nice thing about having a team so small,'' Bundy said. "... They all drive in the van to practice every morning and so they have a lot of time when it is just a small group and they're all talking, getting to know each other. I think it's been really good for all the girls just to be able to see the different cultures, Mar from Spain and Emily from Germany.”

Said Weiser: “Being on this team means a lot to me. Even though I haven’t been on the team long, I have bonded with my friends."

Barry Goldwater is one of the few schools in the district that takes in foreign-exchange students, so Bundy was more than happy to accept the girls on the team.

“They just kind of ended up in our laps because we are the school they were able to get into because some of the other schools did not accept foreign-exchange students,'' Bundy said. "And so they ended up going to Goldwater and they emailed me and said, 'Hey, we want to swim.''

Even though Weiser can’t compete this season, she hopes to help in whatever way she can so the Bulldogs can finish their season strong.