Ezra Shirtcliff '20 Recruiting Profile

I have always had trouble breathing, but I didn’t know my breathing was harder than others. Naturally stoic, I did not complain. I learned to live with asthma and control my breathing. I tracked how long I could run and play before I needed a break. I knew my asthma hit hardest during allergy season and getting sick put me in the hospital. I learned to avoid exercise. Complaints about coughing became rare because these symptoms are part of who I am.

Regular doctor checkups were in the summer when I could control my symptoms, so my diagnosis was missed. The common cold finally allowed my asthma to be identified because it triggered severe asthma symptoms that required an emergency room visit. Follow up tests showed I had 65% of expected lung capacity.

Treatment kept my symptoms under control until my family moved to New Orleans. The smoke, humidity, and fumes of the city increased my symptoms. Life with constant coughing and wheezing became me again. In an appointment in spring, my doctor listened to my breathing; instead of the rare wheeze, he heard a long series of coughs so hard that my lungs made a burp noise. He seemed startled that my breathing was so poor because I had not complained. He gave me better treatment and some excellent advice. Instead of avoiding exercise, I should take up a sport. I started swimming, a sport that treated my asthma in an ironic way. My poor breathing was solved by not breathing at all. Swimming taught me how to control my breathing, and exercise made my lungs stronger.

When I first joined the swim team, I swam slower than everyone because I still struggled to breath or sometimes my allergies were triggered by recently cut grass beside the outdoor pool. I didn’t mind being in the slow lane because I loved being in the water. When it came time for a swim meet, I couldn’t swim very fast, but nonetheless I still showed up to practice, and kept trying. As I grew up, my asthma controlled my life less and less. Every day I can, I go to swim practice.

I recently decided to make personal swimming goals. A year ago, I looked out across Spirit Lake in Northern Iowa and decided to swim across it. I was told no one had done that since the 1960s and the last person who tried made it about half-way before he vomited and needed to be rescued. Undaunted, I spent this past year training for the open-water swim. I pushed myself in practice, and begin to swim faster and longer. To get open-water experience, I joined a triathlon and our team got first place. Recently, I completed the 6 kilometer swim across spirit lake, in under two and a half hours. I plan on swimming in college, either club or team, because swimming has kept me going my entire life.