CMSV swimming champ fights bullying on the side

Bullied in high school, Kylee McGrane does not need to shove her recent success at the College of Mount St. Vincent back in the faces of the juveniles who once harassed her.

She is letting her actions say, look at me now.

Late last month, McGrane, a 19-year-old rising sophomore from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was named the Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women’s swimming. She won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:04.08 at the Skyline Championships on Jan. 30 and was on the CMSV’s winning 200-yard medley relay team that clocked in at 2:03.21. The English and communications double major also had a 3.93 cumulative grade-point average ablnd mentored young children on the dangers of bullying.

“At times, I get so overwhelmed,” McGrane said about keeping her grades up while excelling in athletics and performing community service. “The most important thing is to stay organized. When it comes to swimming, I focus on that. And when it comes to schoolwork, I focus on that.” 

“It gets a little rocky at the end of the semester because finals are the same times as the biggest meets of year. But I just take a deep breath, and tell myself that so many people have done this before me,” she added.

McGrane hopes to remain in New York City after graduation to become a writer, and said she will try to intern at a magazine or on the production team of a TV show in the coming years. As such, she is a contributor to the Mount Times, CMSV’s student newspaper, and writes her own blog about fashion, fitness and daily life.

McGrane is also on the school’s prestigious Seton Service and Leadership Scholarship, which is “offered to students who have an outstanding academic profile and have demonstrated community service and leadership skills,” according to the CMSV website. She is required to perform 40 hours of community service per semester and maintain a 3.0 GPA to maintain the full scholarship.