Ivie Enakhimion '26 Recruiting Profile

Initially, I hated the water. Only when I saw my sister's success in the sport and how fun it seemed was I motivated to start learning to swim. At first, all I wanted was to swim as fast as my sister, but then I discovered the concept of the Junior Olympics and Silver Champs, and then all I focused on was making those cuts. Setting goals for myself kept me going through the long hard practices on rainy days, the struggles with covid, and more recently the balance between academics and swimming. However, even my motivation couldn't blind me from the obvious. I only ever saw a select few swimmers who looked like me present during meets. My parents had little to no experience with swimming or sports in general in this country so we all had to learn as we went along. But that has only made me more committed to continuing with swimming and enhancing my skills. I have continued to improve my times while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. For as long as I can remember, swimming has been a significant part of my life. Swimming on my middle and high school teams has shown me the value of relying on others and in turn letting others rely on me. It has also allowed me to form meaningful friendships. Now, although my sister no longer swims, I could not imagine life without swimming. I want to be a collegiate swimmer to contribute positively to a team while growing in my sport. I hope like others I can further dismantle the stereotypes and elevate Black swimmers and other POC in this sport.