Jayden Atkins '24 Recruiting Profile

My parents have always had this rule where no matter what we have to be a part of at least one sport or extracurricular. I bounced from soccer, to volleyball and finally landed on swimming. I had a natural gift for it and I loved it. My parents even joked and called me Percy Jackson as, in their words, I found my strength in the water. Specifically I loved that in swimming you are part of a team, but at the same time you are in a race against yourself.  I always try to remember that as long as I put in the hard work at practice it will reflect in the meet results. I would love to find a college program where I can continue to improve my skills as a swimmer while pursuing a degree in engineering.  This would set me up for a long successful professional career after my days as a competitive swimmer are over.  

 As far as  my goals for swimming in college, I would like to be a part of a team where I could improve to the point of not only qualifying to compete in the NCAA finals, but to compete as one of the top swimmers in my events.  Since I began swimming, I have always had the goal of making it to the Olympic Trials and giving myself a shot of making it all the way to the Olympics.  I know that being a part of a great college program will help set me up to accomplish this goal as well.

My coaches have always challenged me to be a leader on the team.  I have always taken this job very seriously and do my best to be a role model every day at practice as well as meets.  I try to out work everyone in the water and the gym.  Even beyond the pool, I try and set a good example for the younger swimmers on my team of what being a good teammate is all about.  Many times a week I stick around after practice to encourage younger teammates and always find them at meets so I can cheer them on.  Even though my specialty is middle distance freestyle, I've found myself plenty of times on the relay as either the freestyle or butterfly leg. My coaches have even put me in events that are not necessarily my best as they trusted I could perform and score the points necessary for the team.

My passion for swimming and engineering has to come from my parents. My father, I would say, is a pretty successful engineer and I've always wanted to follow in his path career wise. It has always been fascinating to me how he could design gearboxes for these giant turbine engines and I want to be able to do the same. As for swim, my mother swam in high school as well as played volleyball, and could've been a college athlete but chose a college where she could pursue her desired degree instead. She and my father both used to swim at the YMCA  for the master's team at the time of me starting my swimming career.