Cezar Hirsescu '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Cezar Hirsescu and I am a junior at Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Canada. I have been swimming competitively since I was 7 years old. My goal is to swim in the NCAA and study computer science at a prestigious university in America.

Ever since a young age, swimming has always been my passion. In the pool I always strive to improve my technique, push myself and motivate my fellow teammates. My main events have always been long-distance free. My greatest accomplishments so far in my swimming career have been qualifying for Canadian Age Group Nationals for the past two years. Last season I was 12 seconds away from the Canadian Trials 2002-2006 cut in the 1500 free. During the next years of my swimming career I will continue to train, improve, and push my limits in order to achieve better times and qualify for greater Championship meets, such as Canadian Trials and Senior Nationals. Apart from my training in the pool, I have also been training for open water. This past summer I trained in the lake during the off-season and I have swam my first open water race (2k). Next season I plan to compete in more 5k and 10k open water races.

At school I work very hard to not only keep my grades up, but also to learn new skills. I maintain a 4.0 GPA average and regularly achieve honor roll for all my classes. I have also won academic awards for the highest grade in my year in Math (100%), Science (97%) and Computer Science (100%) to name a few. I am also a member of the Birchmount Exceptional Athletic Program (BEAP). BEAP is a high school program for provincial level athletes where we train to improve all aspects of our fitness, such as speed/agility, endurance, strength, etc. We also learn about proper nutrition for athletes, game/race preparation strategies, and training fundamentals. Lastly, I am also admitted in the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Gifted Program which provides enriched learning and a greater workload than standard academic level classes.

Swimming has taught me some very valuable skills, perhaps one of the most important being time management. Through balancing all my practices and schoolwork I have gained extremely beneficial experience which I am ready to apply at the college level. Another very important skill I have developed is learning from mistakes and overcoming challenges. Like any other sport, swimming is tough and not without its ups and downs. It requires the ability to face defeat in order to improve. Through my years of swimming, I have had to overcome challenges such as injury or not improving for periods of time. Those experiences have made me better at dealing with adversity and have prepared me for new future challenges.

During the pandemic, my high school has transitioned to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Hybrid Return to School plan and my swim club is currently training under Swimming Canada’s COVID regulation model. Despite all the challenges that COVID may pose, I will be dedicated to studying online, training, and staying healthy to achieve my goal of competing in the NCAA. I am sure that I have more potential to improve and that is why I want to go to a university that will challenge me to get better.