Sophie Ebert '20 Recruiting Profile

While it was not one of my goals to achieve at the beginning of the swim season, winning the “belly-flop” award at our team training trip in San Diego was memorable.  It capped off a week of tough training and helped bring the team together.

From an early age, I was always happy when I was in the water, but I also enjoyed other sports including gymnastics and softball (soccer – not so much).  In gymnastics, I was the 2011 and 2012 Louisiana All-Around State Champion and in 2013 I was Regional Vault Champion and third in the All-Around.

I began “summer swimming” when I was eight, but did not come to my senses and start year around competitive swimming until I was twelve.  I initially started swimming in Louisiana before moving to Texas when I was fourteen.  I enjoyed good success while in Louisiana and it is where I learned to love the sport not only for its competitiveness but also for its team camaraderie.  Before leaving, I held the team (Franco Fins) record in the 200 meter (LCM) backstroke and made the “A” Final in the LA Short Course State Meet in the 400 IM, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Back, and the 200 IM.  Swimming became my passion.   I also qualified for the Louisiana all-star team.

Our family moved to the Houston, TX area in 2015 and my swimming life continued and helped with the transition.  As with Louisiana, I quickly found a swimming family with my new club (Blue Tide Aquatics) in Kingwood, TX.  I was worried that I would not compete as well in Texas due to the tougher competition, but my times continued to improve and in my first year I qualified for the 2016 SC Texas Age Group Championships in six events (100 Back, 400 IM, 200 Breast, 200 Back, 100 Free, and 200 IM).

In 2016, as a freshman at Kingwood High School, I made varsity with the third highest point total overall in the Octachlon.  In my first year, I was on the relay team, which broke all three of the school’s freshmen records.   I was also district champion and regional runner-up in the 200 IM and qualified for the Texas High School 6A (large schools) state meet.  I earned All-State Honors.  I am looking forward to my Sophomore year – this year I finished first in try-outs. 

I love swimming and want to continue my swimming career in college.  I have been able to balance my swimming with my academics and managed an unweighted 4.0 GPA my freshman year.  I am in many AP and Pre-AP classes including Human Geography, Biology, English, and Geometry.  With my advanced classes, I have a weighted average GPA of 5.04.  I am ranked 59 out of 697 students. 

I am leaning towards pre-med in college and want to attend an institute that offers competitive academics, as well as, athletics.  I would really like to push my abilities in both areas.  No more “belly-flops”, however, I have already achieved that goal.