WJ sophomore and budding entrepreneur Kathryn Couglin may be on her way to earning a U.S. patent. She earned a place in the top 20 of the Teen Pitch Tank contest for her idea “The CoSkin” and will be recognized at a ceremony on November 11.

The Teen Pitch Tank is a competition in which students from Northeast Ohio high schools submit their business ideas by video to win various prizes including full tuition to Cleveland State University and the chance to promote an original concept to Daymond John from ABC’s hit program “Shark Tank.”

Kathryn’s product will help swimmers save money and time by infusing coconut oil into their Fastskin swimsuits to help protect the fabric from rips and sun damage. Normal Fastskins only last a couple of uses, but with the coconut oil the suit could last longer. She explained how she came up with her idea: “I use coconut oil for everything and was sick of swimsuits running out so fast. I researched it online and contacted a representative from CSI Aquatics in Canton that I knew from swim team, and they thought it was a good idea.”

This product could help competition swimmers and competitive racing greatly and is something that could be used by many. Walsh Jesuit swimmer Dawn Rice (‘17) commented, “This idea is great, and I hope that it actually becomes real because I would use it. Swimmers across the country and around the world could really benefit from this, and I am definitely voting for her on the website.”

Kathryn and her fellow classmates learned about the contest through the entrepreneurship class. Mrs. Kristin Dowling, teacher of the class, praised Kathryn, stating, “I am very excited for Kathryn. I think it’s great that she created a video for a product that she is passionate about — that is what starting a business is all about, picking something that you love!”

Kathryn’s creativity and competitiveness led to her video being selected from hundreds of submissions. The winner of the contest will be voted on by the public, while judges from the business community will determine the top five prizewinners.