Katharina Lohner '22 Recruiting Profile

Hello, My name is Katharina Lohner, I am currently a Junior at Adams High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan. I started swimming at around 5 years old, in Germany and continued to do so until I moved to the United States in 2014.  As I have remained an international student living in the United States, I started swimming at Oly Swimming in 2015. Having swum in both countries, the United States and Germany, I have come to appreciate the opportunity of connecting my academic and athletic goals. My schedule would normally consist of nine practices a week, 6 of them being 2 hours and 3-morning practices that are 1 hour and 30 minutes long, also having 4 practices a week that include dry-lands. Due to the pandemic and regulations, my schedule has shifted at times but is now returning to 8-9 practices a week and carrying out dry-lands at home about 5-6 times a week. 

Something that has tremendously influenced me is my family, being one of five children (one of four girls) I have come to realize the importance of working together as a team and successfully carrying out tasks under stressful or time-limited circumstances.  Being part of a bigger family has made me value the additional help received and the occasional times when the whole family is able to come together. Moving to the United States at just 10 years old has made me be more resilient in adapting to a new environment or new people while still trying to learn the language and culture of the country. Whilst still living in Bad Honnef, Germany, and continuing my early education, I swam at the SSF Bonn aquatics club in Bonn, Germany where my passion for swimming really began. 

Due to my parents having been swimmers, it became apparent that parts of that legacy would be passed down in the family, which resulted in all of my siblings, at some time in their lives, being part of a swimming program, though only my sisters, Johanna Lohner, Elisabeth Lohner, and me having continued our life in the sport. I began, at a young age, not only to learn to love the adrenaline a race would bring but also appreciate the people I meet and learn from as well. Being in the sport for the last 11 years of my life has taught me a lot about overcoming frustrations or barriers such as when I first moved to the US. As I hope to continue my athletic career through college, I also imagine myself going into political science or International relations, reaching for a future that contributes to public services or the good of the public.