Charlize Trotta '25 Recruiting Profile

I moved from an IB school in Europe to the US 1 year ago in 2022. I swam for the first time on the Mercer Island SWIVE team my Sophomore year. I had never taken swim lessons or swam competitively before but despite lack of previous formal instruction I made the district times and was awarded the best underclassman award. I have never swam in a club but I plan to this year once the swim season for school ends. While it is true I am coming to the sport much later than my teammates, I am physically suited to swimming being tall and quick to learn new techniques thanks to my early years in ballet training at the School of American Ballet in NYC and volleyball and long jump.

 I like front crawl but I am versatile and happy to swim most strokes and often compete at backstroke and breaststroke too. With swimming I have discovered a passion and a best fit sport and believe with a year of proper club training to build on what I have achieved in just one year, I will achieve my goal of winning at the district level and beyond in my senior year. I am consistent and disciplined and never miss a swim training session even with a very heavy academic workload. I am a team player and love to encourage and support my teammates in the same way they positively aspire and support me. 

In terms of academics, I consider myself a hardworking student taking the most rigorous academic path offered. I have only taken honours courses to date, I won the Presidents Award for Academics in 10th grade and as a Sophomore last year I took 1 AP Spanish Language ( I am not Spanish and I am not Chinese) and passed with a 5. In my Junior year I am currently studying for 4 AP classes Chinese Language, US History, English Language and Spanish Literature. I am studying independently for AP Spanish literature as the school district does not offer this AP class. I have set my goal to pass it within this year and have independently organised my schedule and time to hopefully be successful. In my Senior year I will focus on taking Science AP classes including Biology and Psychology. I also play violin since 5th grade, now a member of the Chamber orchestra at school which proves I am capable of managing demanding athletic training, rigorous academics and musical practice on a daily basis. With fluency in several languages, I am interested in the foreign service pathway but I am equally interested in Sciences. I have not yet fully decided which direction to pursue at college although I do know that I wish to make competitive college swimming part of my future pathway and feel I have a great deal of potential waiting to be fulfilled in a sport I love.