Trent Vacula '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Trent Vacula, and I am an upcoming Junior at Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, PA. I swim for the Pine Richland Aquatics USA Swim club team and my high school team. My favorite club events are the 400 individual medley and the 1650 freestyle, and my favorite high school events are the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.  I have been swimming for 8 years, and quickly fell in love with swimming. The sport has since opened up many opportunities to me that I would have never have dreamed of, and has allowed me to meet multiple coaches and swimmers who I am always learning from. One of the awesome things about swimming is that there’s always something to improve, something to fix and this allows me to keep dropping times. It's a sport about balance where every workout, every move, every second counts, yet it somehow manages to be a lot of fun and engaging.  

My love for the sport would propel me to a multitude of accomplishments such as getting 6th at AAA WPIALS for the 200 individual medley my sophomore year, qualifying me for states; 6th in the 200 individual  medley and 7th in the 500 yard freestyle my Junior year; qualifying for 7 events at USA Sectionals at the age of 15; and setting various high school team and club team records. I was also selected to attend the 2021 Zone Select Performance Workshop.

My accomplishments aren’t just in the pool but in the classroom as well, where I’ve achieved Highest Honor Roll for all three years of my high school career while achieving a cumulative 4.02 GPA. Because of my abilities in the classroom and the pool, I was selected for the AMS Scholastic All-American award after my Freshmen year of high school. I am also a member of Pine-Richland High School's Technology Student Association club and the AMS Athletic Committee.

I’ve learned many things from swimming such as "being the best isn’t what matters, it’s about being the best you can be", and "not every swim will be your best swim."  These are all ideals I carry through my life. Hopefully, I can continue improving both as an athlete and as a student.

Thank you for taking the time considering me as a future student athlete at your program.