Joel Conrad '22 Recruiting Profile

Being in the water always has felt more natural than on land, after all you can't trip in the water. After all of the years of swimming, these steamy, humid natatoriums filled with the yelling of parents and athletes alike, have become home.

I've been swimming since before I could walk; that's what happens when you have a diver dad, and a swimmer mom. They made me join the swim team at a young age. Trust me, at first I hated it, I did anything within reason to get out of practice when I was younger. You name it, I did it: "losing" goggles, "sick" in the middle of the summer, crying just didn't work. My mother was the assistant coach; I did not get out of many practices. It gave me better character right? 

No, I continually had new ideas to get out of summer practice until I was in 7th grade and started YMCA winter swim. I went to Zones that spring, and met one of my closest friends. That's when it hit me like a bus.

 I actually might enjoy this.

Since that meet, I have not come up with a new excuse to get out of practice, and, strangely enough, I show up to practice with a smile on my face. My mom is no longer my coach, but my current coaches have built on my love for swimming.  A thing my USA coach, Mike, said about my obscene happiness was "If I can see your smile when you're swimming, that means I need to make harder practices." 

So he did, and I continue to smile.

Through this process I haven't only improved my times, but some of the people I swim with are smiling, and joking around when we have harder practices, It just makes it much more enjoyable when everyone is having fun and are exhausted too. 

I started USA my Sophomore year, and I swim unattached because of YMCA but I try to get in equal time with each coach during the fall, and spring, because winter is all high school. Gradually, each year I have added extracurriculars to my schedule. As a freshman I did track. As a Sophomore I added USA and In the Know to the mix. Now this year, I have added Cross Country, Student Council, and NHS to the schedule, and it doesn't take away from either my swimming, or my grades. 

Swimming has also taught me to not be so serious about the world around me; everyone has things they dislike, things they like, I like swimming now, and that wasn't always the case.  Most of all, Mike, my USA coach, knows how I used to be, and this is a quote he wrote on the board when I first started, and of everything that goes on that workout board, this is what I remember: 

"One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself."

I found out, I am what I want to be, I am a swimmer, and it makes me proud to say I can swim with my heart, not just my muscle.