Ryan Castanedo '20 Recruiting Profile

The reason I want to play water polo in college is so I can get further in life while also using all my assets. I do not come from a wealthy family; my parents were immigrants from Cuba that earned their citizenship a little before I was born. I grew up in Miami and was the only Black, Spanish-speaking boy in Carol City, so I used to get in fights until I finally learned English from pre-schoolers that had chains and grills. Water polo honestly changed my life for the better; when I'm in the water, I feel like I'm finally equal to everyone else in the sense that we are all on the same boat, we all just want to practice and win every tournament we participate in. I will make a good candidate for your team because I am responsible and a quick learner; I want to be able to show others that I can make it anywhere I set my mind to and my mind is set on this college team. I don't think that there are many other black, bilingual water polo players on the East Coast; my mom reminds me every time I'm stuck on something to just remember that I was born to rise above and break other's perceptions/stereotypes of me. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Ryan Castanedo