Zoe Castle '25 Recruiting Profile

Just like a sea turtle I was born to be in the water. I have been swimming since I was one year old starting with lessons and then joining Black Hawk Area Swim Team (BLAST) at the age of seven. Originally I joined the team to be with my friends and to burn a little bit of extra energy, but then my competitive side took over and swimming became my passion. When I joined BLAST I was also diagnosed with anxiety and possibilities of having depression in the future. Swimming was a way for me to cope, my body and mind were constantly distracted. I recently went through a spout of bad luck tearing my right peck followed by breaking my foot. It was a rough year, I tried my best to get into the water but even bringing my arm above my head hurt. I ended up only kicking at practice for about 3 months until I was finally clear to try freestyle and ended short course season training to regain what I’d lost. I went into the summer season of 2022 with my head held high ready to get back to my preinjury self until disaster struck. I broke my foot in 3 places, it took nearly a month to find the breaks and I was swimming the whole time making the break worse. I ended up in a cast and was out for the season. Since the injuries my mental health plummeted leading to me taking off the entire 2022-2023 winter short course season. With this mental break, I have taken up weight lifting regularly. 

My goal for college is to study in the music field. I love music and are very passionate about making music on my trombone. If not teaching music I am very interested in music therapy. Therapy has helped me with my mental health, music therapy combines both my love for music and my interest in therapy. Alongside studying I want to swim in college, as of right now I don’t know what division or level or competition, I just want to swim.