Nicole Baney '15 Recruiting Profile

I fell in love with swimming the moment I took swimming lessons at 5 years old. Being in the water for me was like “I was home.” The smell of chorine and the weightlessness of the water is where I am most content. I joined a swim team at age 7 and have been swimming ever since.

At school, I work hard to maintain a good GPA, as well as to keep my eligibility in good standing. I have been a member of the National Honor Society and have been on the Honor Roll as well. I work as a lifeguard in the summer and have competed in the Tri-State summer swim league for the past 4 years and have competed in the USA Swimming league for 2 years.

I am a hard worker and am very coachable. As an underclassman I would watch the “older kids” and push myself to be like them. As a freshman I was a jr. captain on the varsity swim team. I went to state as a freshman on two relay teams, anchoring one. My sophomore year, our coach had some health issues so practices were not steady. I would leave after the high school practice and travel 45 minutes to practice with my USA coaches. I knew that to get where I needed to be I would have to get more help. I was able to juggle this along with my grades. I did, again, make it to state. In July the summer prior to my junior year I was involved in a car accident with my coach. I was training really hard that summer and had accomplished some of my goals. I was unable to swim the rest of the summer due to injuries. I did not break any bones, just contusions, stitches, and the whiplash that comes with a high impact accident. In my junior year, we lost our high school coach (and facility) so we were bused to another high school (Booker T. Washington) and were coached under their coach, Adina Norman. That was a difficult transition and in the process we went from approximately 35 swimmers to 6. Not having the strong “team” foundation I was used to made me realize it was now up to me to get myself to where I needed to be. I tried to become a leader and keep our team together the best I could. With all of that, I did make it to state again, both on relays and individual. The adversity of that year, new coach and facility and trying to rebound from an accident, made me push harder and dig deep to get myself mentally and physically back on track. As a senior this year, and team captain, I am looking forward to a great year. Again, without many teammates, I may not have the opportunity for a relay team, but I have set myself individual goals.

I have always dreamed of swimming in college. I want to continue competing and now want to ultimately find a college that best suits me as well as where my ability and personality will benefit the team