Loren Sechelski '19 Recruiting Profile

I came late to the sport of swimming. When I was very young I took dance lessons and karate classes. I tried soccer and competitive gymnastics while trying to find where I best fit. In 7th grade, we were looking for something to take the place of gymnastics that would give me a good workout and keep me in shape until I could decide what I wanted to do. A friend of mine suggested that I join a swim team with her while I was figuring out what I wanted to do. At the swim team tryouts, I dove in the pool, swam the 25 yards and resurfaced at the other end. The coach looked at me incredulously and said, "most people swim on top of the water." I had never tried to swim above the water before. I had never had swim lessons of any kind so all I knew to do was swim underwater. From the day of that first tryout, I knew I belonged in the pool. Swimming is apparently where I belong.

The best part about all this is that I have great underwater technique. I didn't have to learn a dolphin kick - that is how I always swam. I did however have to learn everything else. So, where freestyle is the most natural for most swimmers, it was a hard adjustment for me.

I believe it is important for coaches to know that I came to swimming late in life. They can look at my times and know that it didn't take me six or eight years in the pool to develop these times, I have only been swimming two full years. So I have a lot of room to continue developing my technique and dropping time off my events.