Herrick Stevenson '25 Recruiting Profile

I began swimming on a rec team for 10 years ago.  Last year I made the decision to make swimming more of a priority and joined my first USA team.    

I have always been one of the fastest swimmers in my age group on the recreational swim teams I was part of and I decided I wanted to be pushed and challenged more so I joined my first USA swim team(PVAA) in late 2022.  

I joined this team to compete and train at a higher level with a more experienced coach; all in hopes of becoming a stronger (and more technically better) swimmer with a  technically better  stroke. Soon after I joined the team  it was announced that PVAA would be merging with the ABF team. This came as a surprise and made me wonder how I could balance my school and sport life as a boarding student with limited access to a car. I began to look at other schools that offered more serious swimming, but after talking with my parents we came to the conclusion that we would rent an apartment locally as a family so I could be a day student.   This would allow me to be  to continue to train with ABF at a high level while still staying at my school and remaining involved in that community. During this process I had a lightbulb moment which was the first time I realized how important this sport is to me and that this is what I wanted to do for as long as I can. In college I want to be able to compete at a high level while still having room to grow.