- 2017 Highlights
Personal Statement
At a young age I have always been competitive, whether it was kick ball at my local park, running to the car to get the front seat, or being the first one out of my kindergarten class.. but mostly and always.. in the pool. I have always had the drive and motivation to push myself to win no matter the circumstance. I started swimming at the age of seven for the YMCA. We swam three to four days a week for three to four months a year for about an hour a day. We live and I grew up in a very rural underserved area in Northern New York near Canada. Once I got to Jr High School, our pool was only four lanes and once swimming started, we only swam four to five days a week also for about an hour a day. So, we had to constantly look for additional training outside of our School. Growing up here, because of the geography and harsh weather, it became very difficult to find competitive club teams to train with. Because of this I had to travel more than an hour and a half just to get to practice, practice for an hour and a half, then drive another final hour and a half home. I did all of my homework in the car as best that I could. We have very harsh Winters here, so many times practice was canceled or postponed which made things even more difficult. Because of spending many hours on the road to get to the nearest club team practice, and taking all advanced classes for my middle/ high school I was very busy. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It taught me how to time manage at a young age and it taught me how to find different ways to achieve my goals. But on the negative side of things, it also made it very difficult to get consistent, good training. I had to also sacrifice what I feel was a "normal" childhood. I could not hang out with my friend's, go to birthday parties, stay over night at other kids houses etc like an average kid could do. However, In my opinion, everything was worth it. I developed good relationships with other swimmers and their families. Looking back, because of all of my hard work and time in and out of the pool as a Jr in High School, I have over 17 records. The records I hold are on my Club team, the YMCA team, my High School Varsity team and in my Section III NYS Championship. These results have enabled me to be tougher and develop better both physically and mentally.
I inspire to take my ability to the Collegiate level. I believe with the limited training I have received in my swimming career so far, my own hard work and determination , I will and have the potential to become a much better athlete, swimmer, and teammate.
Outside of schooling and the pool, I enjoy working out and spending time with my family. I wish to pursue Finance and Law after college. I enjoy getting to know people and working as part of a team. I feel I perform best with a team especially under pressure. That's why I always held the anchor position in relays. When it came down to the wire I usually was able to pull out the win for my team.
I feel if a team would give me a chance to be part of their roster, I would outperform their expectations of me. I drive to be the best, and I will do anything to accomplish my goals. With a college coaching system and good training I would grow exponentially as a person and swimmer.
