For Vermont-based artist and K-12 art educator Emily Mitchell, swimming has always been a passion. She started swimming at 9 years old and was a member of the Cumberland High School (Rhode Island) State Championship Team from 1987 to 1990. She competed for Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and qualified for New England Championships each year.

After college, Emily continued swimming with Masters and participated in many triathlons and duathlons between 2000 and 2004. She’s completed three half-Iron distance events and was a proud finisher of Ironman Lake Placid in 2003. In that race, her 2.4-mile swim time was under 1 hour.

Mitchell has also competed in many open water swimming events, including swimming the 5-mile length of Lake Willoughby and completing a 10K in Lake Memphremagog. She has logged multiple Top 10 achievements in Masters meets over the years.

The USMS Level 2 Coach serves as the head coach at EDGE Masters in Burlington, Vermont. She’s also a USA Swimming Coach working with age groupers at the EDGE Swim Club and is a certified Adult Learn-to-Swim instructor.

With more than 20 years of classroom experience, Mitchell brings her attention to detail and encouraging instruction to the pool deck, making Masters workouts fun, thought-provoking, challenging, and exciting. More than just a workout coach, Mitchell has pushed many swimmers to reach beyond what they first thought they might someday be able to do.

In April 2023, Mitchell brought a large team to the NELMSC SCY Championship held at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Among her crew was Chioyne Okwuashi, who was competing in his first ever swim meet. Okwuashi had only learned to swim two years prior, and Mitchell coached him to enter the 100 free and the 50 fly. With her enthusiastic support, Okwuashi had two successful swims and a wonderful time at his first meet. After his butterfly race, he encouraged anyone else considering learning to swim or getting into Masters to just do it. “Please start. It’s not too late,” he said.