Santiago Jimenez Donovan '22 Recruiting Profile

129 goals scored senior year (in 25 games), MCAL Water Polo All-League 2021, North Coast Section, CIF, Scholar-Athlete 2021-2022, 2021 Varsity MVP, New Single Season Scoring Record Holder for San Rafael High School Men's Varsity Water Polo Team, 2021 Varsity Captain, 2021 National Junior Olympics, 2020 Offensive MVP,  2018 Rookie of the Year, Sleepy Hollow Aquatics (SHAQ), year round dedication to water polo development.

My goals and aspirations for college are to get a solid Bachelor of Arts or Science degree, to develop strong critical thinking skills, and to prepare myself for civic engagement and leadership in my chosen field. The areas of study I am interested in are: criminal justice, political science, international relations, and marine biology.

I am an excellent candidate for a collegiate water polo team because I am 6'6", hardworking, resilient, motivated, a team player, and determined to win and succeed in the pool and in the classroom.

There are many things that make me unique. With regard to character, I am stoic and can endure hard work and struggle with composure. With regard to athletics, I combine height and wingspan with a drive to develop and a love of the game. With regard to academics, I bring persistence. I have learned that bumps in the road, whether they be in character, athletics, or academics, are really opportunities to develop and grow – it’s how we learn who we are and how much depth we have.

For example, regarding academics, it took me about two years of high school to focus myself and to appreciate the longer term importance of my high school academic performance. This realization, combined with my growing passion for water polo and for a collegiate career in the sport, required me to review my grades, take responsibility for my poor performance where it occurred, and retake a year's worth of courses while maintaining good grades junior and senior year, which also overlapped with the pandemic and remote learning. To date, I have retaken four of five Ds and replaced those Ds with As and Bs. In fact, I retook two classes this past summer while preparing for and competing in the 2021 National Junior Olympics with my club team. You can see this on my transcript under Summer 2020-2021, "SRCS Summer High School." The new grades are an A- in algebra and an A- in geometry. I'm very proud of this and have one remaining D to retake, chemistry, which is currently underway. This experience for me is more valuable than a perfect academic record. Grit and perseverance are part of my character, and having to overcome my initial academic challenges are one of the things that made this so. I will bring this same grit and perseverance to college academics and to a collegiate water polo program.

Please take a moment to watch these highlight videos with footage from my recent senior year games (these videos are also on my NCSA profile with identifying arrows).

Senior Year Footage: https://vimeo.com/619711561/84efb035b6

Senior Year Goals in 2M: https://vimeo.com/625799119/b72e8a6b07

Thank you for your time and consideration.