Personal Statement
My swim career began rather inauspiciously. When I was six years old, my parents enrolled my brother and I, the youngest of their five children, in swim lessons at the local pool. It was there that we encountered the Cascade Swim Club practicing and my father inquired as to how I could become a member. Although I loved the idea of being in the water and could “swim,” the coach told my father that in order to join I needed to first master all four strokes. I continued the lessons faithfully, and within seven months I was able to register with Cascade. I progressed rapidly, moving from the age group to senior level at age thirteen. At fifteen I made the difficult but necessary decision to switch to my current team, the Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club. The success I have achieved in swimming is the result of several factors, including family support,a committed coaching staff, hard work, sacrifice, and a measure of God-given athletic ability. Competitive swimming has been a vehicle for many life lessons. Along the way I’ve experienced both highs and lows, joy and sorrow, and have learned how unpredictable life can be. For example, in March of 2019, just four months after I stood on the medal stand at State between two swimmers I’d competed against for years and consider close friends, one had become a High School All-American and Olympic Trials qualifier and the other had tragically taken her own life. Through it all—the early mornings, countless laps, and evening practices in the pouring rain—I have discovered the drive within myself to pursue my dream of competing at a high level.
Being part of a team that has become more like my second family is something I value and hope to find at the collegiate level. I am a fierce competitor, striving to drop time and break school records, and willing to put it all on the line to chase down the lead as the relay anchor. I am also a teammate who motivates others to believe in their own abilities and lift them up when disappointed. I believe I have barely scraped the surface of my potential and can be a valuable, contributing member of a college swim and dive team. Continuing my swim career at the college level will allow me to see how much farther I can push myself in the pool as well as in the classroom, to prepare me for a career in criminal justice, possibly in law enforcement or forensic investigation.