Year: First-year

Sport: Swimming (Freestyle, Backstroke)

Major: Speech Pathology

Introduction:

“I am 19 years old, and I’m from Elkhart, Indiana — around the Notre Dame area. I’ve been swimming since I was seven years old. I spend most of my time with my friends on the swim team. My hobbies are hanging out with friends and seeing movies. The most recent movie I’ve seen was “Beauty and the Beast.” I loved “Beauty and the Beast” — ten out of ten.”

What do you like about swimming?

“I like the sport itself, but I love the team atmosphere. I like just being able to work hard with friends, whether it is in the weight room or in the pool. I like competing at meets. I like that competitive atmosphere, especially when it gets down to a close meet, that’s a lot of fun. Just to cheer for your teammates and watch them succeed, as well as doing well yourself.”

How much did you train, during the season?

“We practice everyday for two hours [in the afternoon], and we practice on mornings on Mondays and Thursdays for another hour and a half (Sundays are off). A lot of times we have meets on the weekends, so sometimes we don’t have practices on Saturdays.”

What about off-season?

“I swam today, actually. Every day there’s always people in the pool swimming for off season. I swim or I’m in the weight room. A lot of our girls team does Zumba, on Tuesday and Thursday to stay in shape.”

What motivates you?

“Everyone on the team works hard in the classroom, so I think it’s just encouraging that everyone else helps you strive in that way. I am just generally self-motivated when it comes to studying. We also have study tables that swimmers go to as well. Everyone just tries to do well in school which is encouraging.”

What did you think about the first season at Calvin?

“I thought it was a lot of fun. I love all the coaches. They are really helpful and really care about you. I was amazed with the team atmosphere, in how much the swim team does with each other. Even the upperclassmen invite you to hang out with them just to do stuff, not just when you are in the pool but on the weekends. Everyone eats dinner together. I just like the closeness of that.”

What made you come to Calvin?

“I wanted to go to a small Christian school that had a good swim team. Around my senior year, I really decided to do speech pathology, and Calvin just had a really good program for it. I came on a recruit trip, and met with the coach and the teammates. I just really loved the team. It was just a good fit.”  

As a student-athlete, what would you like to see improve in Calvin?

“I think Calvin is doing well, but I wish there would be more recognition for swimming and more people come and support us, and want to see us. Not a lot of people know about swimming, but I’d like to see more advertisement and more people coming to see us next year.”