Lia Edlin Miller '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Lía and I am a student at Northport High School, NY.  I have been swimming competitively for 10 years, for the same club, and have also been on my school's varsity team since 7th grade.  I have learned so much from my coaches and teammates about growth mindset and how to train effectively, both mentally and physically.  Before every race, I set aside a few minutes for myself to visualize the upcoming event.  I see it how I want to swim it, visualize specific goals and technique, as well as focus on the end result and goal time.  I am extremely dedicated and never like to skip a practice because I know that they are crucial in order to be best prepared and ready for my next races.  I find it rewarding to complete hard sets and always feel good afterwards, despite understandable exhaustion.  I am also passionate about my teammate connections and have found some of my best friends through participating in this sport.  Even on my worst days when I go into practice frustrated, my attitude is flipped and I have never left practice in a bad mood.

I am also very involved in my school community.  I play cello in my school's honors symphony orchestra and aside from swim practice also devote time after school to practicing my cello.  I also enjoy giving back to my community and helping people in general.  For this reason, I am an active participant in a club called Grandfriends.  We spend time with senior citizens at a local assisted living center every Tuesday.  I like connecting with people and find it interesting to learn about their lives.

Over the pandemic, I struggled with isolation as well as losing practice time, so I channeled my energy into helping the community by sewing masks.  I ended up sewing over 5,000 masks and donated over $8000 in profits to local charities including my school food pantry, Northport Cat Rescue, and Tri-CYA (a local community center for underprivileged families).  I enjoyed seeing the impact of what I was doing and want to continue dedicating time to help people throughout my future.

I plan to bring my current level of energy, dedication, and sportmanship to my college experience, both athletically and academically.  I also hope to build strong, meaningful, and fun relationships with my college coaches and teammates.