Hannah Griffin has always loved learning, even when it wasn’t easy.

“When I first entered school, I was really excited for the opportunity to learn,” Griffin said. “But I had a lot of difficulty reading. I just couldn’t figure it out.”

Soon she was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and Tourette syndrome, which is characterized by physical and verbal tics. She started receiving support at school in reading and math, which helped but also made her feel more isolated.

“I felt like I was being taken out of school all the time and it just killed me because I just wanted to be normal and go to school,” said Griffin, 17, of Scarborough. “I always felt different, so I always put high expectations on myself because I wanted to be successful at everything.”

Things started to improve when Griffin learned she had a wheat allergy and removed the grain from her diet.

“I could think better,” she said. “The fog lifted.”

Then she started swimming competitively at the Biddeford YMCA. It proved to be a life-changing activity for a dedicated 9-year-old.

“Swimming helped me gain self-confidence,” Griffin said. “I was so bad at reading, I thought I couldn’t do anything. When I started swimming, I finally had a place where I fit in. It’s so much more than a sport for me because it changed me as a person.”

Griffin’s success in the pool led to success in the classroom. It also helped her to overcome her anxiety and tics. And it helps her to reduce and control symptoms of painful and debilitating rheumatoid arthritis that was diagnosed in one knee at age 12.

As Griffin graduates from Scarborough High School in the top 10 percent of her class, her success in swimming and school remain entwined.

She won the 200-yard individual medley at the state championships this year – a highlight of her swimming career – and she helped her team win the 200- and 400-yard free relays. She was named team MVP in 2015 and 2018, and she won state and conference recognition this year for having a grade-point average of 3.7 or higher.

She plans to attend Colby College, where she’ll join the swim team and study biochemistry, aiming for a career in neuropsychiatry or optometry. She said she’s grateful for the support and guidance she has received from her parents, especially her mother, who never stopped believing in her.

And she hopes that others are inspired by her success to strive for their own goals.

“I want others to feel they can overcome challenges and do things that they don’t think they’re fully capable of doing,” Griffin said. “It’s not true that just because they’re different they’re not going to succeed.”

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