Alisha Uzakova '21 Recruiting Profile

Watching a 2014 World Championship in Doha with my family we switched to a 50m freestyle where Florent Manaudou was going against the top swimmers of the world. The intensity of the racing captivated me and I was stunned witnessing the speed and raw power athletes were going into that race with. Immediately I knew that professional swimming was the next challenge I would take after professional junior tennis country competitions I was involved in just 3 weeks from that time. Coming to my 4th grade in September 2014 I already signed up for a swimming class which was held in a nearby junior athlete academy. At that age I didn't want to be a professional swimmer, I just wanted do it for my health and physical improvement. That way my swimming journey started, with a small step into the locker room of that academy and an immense desire to compete and train in that sport.

Coming from a family where discipline is embedded into you from your first memories training was not an issue. A month of my first coach transferred me to a professional group. Hence I quickly went from training 3 times a week to everyday training. This came at a great sacrifice to my early teenage years, where my peers were hanging out at each other’s homes while I was packing my backpack for training session. In retrospect I believe the choices I have made paid off quickly as I got admitted to my city’s junior team which competed on a country level.

From there my professional swimming career started to evolve as I was subjected to a country level of a competition where we had swimmers from all over the 16 counties my country consists. Only at training towards these championships I started to realize how important is the athlete’s mindset. I always loved to go to an outdoor swimming training competitions which were often held as trials before the main country championships. Going into the changing room alone with your thoughts and doubts may or may not cost you a medal place. My confidence always helps me, but there were days when my doubts were stronger than confidence. Therefore, as I was getting older and more mature as a human being I started to devote more time into reading relevant literature regarding specifics of competitive swimming.

Learning and winning championships alongside with individual achievements like a granted ‘candidate master of sports’ rank inspired me to start a YouTube channel where I talk about the importance of setting your goals up. Using my own experience, I am hoping to guide swimmers who just started their journey just like I did years ago.

As long as remember myself, I have always wanted to practise in US. This country gives great opportunities to perspective athletes. Pools, coaching staff, personal training plan- are dream of all swimmers around the world, including me. Sport scholarship was my main goal when I came to the swimming pool for the first time and 6 years later nothing changes.

With the start of high school years, I really enjoyed biology, and chemistry classes. Then I found out about genetic, this science pushed me to think about other factors that contribute towards the success of world stars like Michael Phelps. Whether it was a proper balanced nutrition diet, minimized water friction bodysuits or even a genetic advantage that some athletes possess, I wanted to find the ways of applying science into sport and create something beneficial for the future generations of athletes. Therefore, choosing Genetics as my bachelor’s degree I really hope I can play a substantial role in investigating the effects on f genes impose on humans and how it all translates into their respective athletic performance.

In future I want to be geneticist and explore how genetics affects on athlete's success.  I choose US because of opportunity to combine study and sport. 

I can say with confidence that going through ups and downs, good and bad days in the pool has made me who I am. I don’t think I would be a well-rounded person that I am today without swimming. It somehow always meant to come into my life and I am glad that it appeared pretty early in my life.