Gaspar Lazure '23 Recruiting Profile

I have been swimming competitively for the past eight years with the Windsor Essex Swim Team. During this time, I have established myself as a butterfly and freestyle specialist, from the sprints to the longer distances. So far, I am on track to make National standard times by the end of this year and hope to qualify for Trials by the time I graduate from high school next year. 

As a sport, swimming has taught me many lessons and values, most importantly discipline, perseverance and resilience (particularly since the beginning of the current pandemic). Getting up at 5am for morning practice regardless of the weather, striving for performance despite the odds, pushing through the failures and the plateaux to continue to improve my times, are all challenges or obstacles that I have learned to overcome which have made me stronger in my sport as well as in my daily life. Although I’ve always loved competing and performed well under pressure, I have come to enjoy training hard and pride myself in being focused and dedicated in practice. When I have a goal, I do whatever it takes to reach it. I am committed to my sport and feel more motivated than ever to swim in college.

Like many swimmers and athletes, I want to reach the top: to compete in the Olympics or set world records. I know that the road will be long and difficult, and that I might not make it, but to me the journey and the experiences that go along with it are just as important as the end goal. Although swimming is an individual sport, I see myself as a team player. A team is made up of both partners and opponents who motivate and challenge each other to go further and faster, but who also support and cheer for one another. I believe that it’s in this kind of environment that an athlete can thrive and grow, and this is the kind of experience that I aspire to have in college sports.