Yara Olsen '24 Recruiting Profile

Hello! My name is Yara Olsen, and I am a member of the Ronald Reagan High School Varsity Swim Team and of Alamo Area Aquatics Association (AAAA) in Texas! I started swimming at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, CA in 2009.  After a few years we moved to Maryland and I continued to swim competitively with Rockville Montgomery Swim Club (RMSC). I enjoyed swimming year round as we had a very strong summer swim team. I moved to San Antonio right before I started middle school and I decided to try other sports. I played volleyball, basketball, soccer, and ran track. I excelled highly in those sports and developed a love for them, but I soon discovered my heart was for the water and I missed it, so I jumped back into swimming, which was the best decision of my life. I was pretty out of "swimming" shape when I started up again my eighth grade year, but I knew that with determination and hard work I could get stronger and faster, and I did. I have dropped over 13 seconds in my 100 breast, 3 seconds in my 50 free, and 8 seconds in my 100 free, and I have also improved tremendously in the weight room.  I am excited to continue to hone my skills as I continue my swim career through high school and hopefully into college.

I bring home good grades ( A's and B's) and I am a part of the American Cancer Association. I regularly help out at my church and pool (with the younger kids). I am also the second counselor in my Young Women's class at church. I enjoy playing the piano, snow skiing and exploring the outdoors. 

I am deeply in love with swimming. I love racing people and I think the best feeling in the world is when you are about to finish a race, and you're whole body is exhausted, and you're just trying to move your body as fast as it can, and you just keep pushing through because you know the lasting reward is better than holding back in the moment. To me the pool is my escape, even though jumping in the freezing pool in the morning at 6 am is not very fun, I still love showing up every day because I see it as an opportunity to get faster, stronger, and smarter.