Charlotte Hoover '24 Recruiting Profile

I enjoy swimming to a point where it touches  nearly every part of my life, but in a healthy way. I have swam competitively since I was 6 years old, but my coach, Michael Brooks, never pushed me to advance before I was mentally, psychologically and physically ready. I was taught to embrace every level of swimming while I was a part of it, from developmental to senior national. I really enjoyed passing on what I learned to swimmers in the levels below me. Most importantly, coach Brooks didn't want us to get burned out. He emphasized a love and passion for swimming through technique and mentoring. Over time, I have become student of the sport. I am an extremely dedicated swimmer. I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week and commute an hour each way to swim for a nationally recognized coach. Because I am an Honors student, this has taught me to be well organized. I have to use my time wisely, or I will have to face the consequences. I love my team, and I love going to practice. Swimming is in my DNA! Most of all I love training hard, all year long, pushing myself to reach my fullest potential. I set milestones for myself regarding the season meets where I see all my hard work pay off. My coach and I make sure my milestones are achievable. We talk about what I need to do in and out of the water, watching film, attending technique camps, dry land training, understanding the basic physiology of VO2 max and lactate threshold. I not only strive to achieve my best in individual events, I also work just as hard with my teammates to reproduce the same success in team relays. I enjoy relays a lot because of the adrenaline we share as a team behind the blocks. It is almost magical! You can feel the pressure of the whole team relying on you. However, you rely on and support each other in ways that produce the best results for everyone. I would argue that swimming is NOT an individual sport. To quote Aristotle, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." This is definitely the most important aspect of team swimming!