Daniel Cushing '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Daniel Cushing and I am a Senior at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia. Honestly 24 months ago, although I thought I wanted to swim in college, I would not have had the confidence to see if it was possible.  I just didn't have the times.  I only had one State cut in July 2021 in the 1500M free. 

I am very fortunate to be coached by Austin Sumrall at Chattahoochee Gold who has focused on developing me as a complete individual as well as a leader on the team.  Through his coaching, my times have improved and I have gone from the one State cut to one Winter Junior cut (400 free), three Futures Cuts (200 free, 500 free and 1000 free), and 5 Sectional cuts. My 500 free at High School State Championship in February 2023 was only 0.15 off All-American consideration. I also now have State cuts in other non-free events. My sights are now set on at least Junior Summer cuts in all freestyle events. It has been exciting and really fun!

I love swimming because of the thrill and adrenaline rush that comes with racing coupled with the camaraderie of being on a close-knit team. To me each race is a celebration of the hard work and practices that lead up to it regardless of the outcome. I try to learn from each race. My daily goals are not to miss a single practice and to be focused completely on swimming and every little detail for the entire practice.  At every practice I strive to get better at some aspect of swimming.  That could be technical, speed, endurance or being a better teammate.  The improvement could be 5%, 10% or even 0.1% as long as I am not standing still or going backwards.  I try to get my teammates to think in the same way. My teammates are amazing and have helped me in getting to my achievements and I have tried to do the same for them. If I could contribute positively to a swim team at the next level both individually and as part of the team, I would hope that would be a great outcome for everyone.