Rachael Binion '20 Recruiting Profile

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always had a passion for swimming. My grandma has a pool in her backyard, so I have grown up in the water. When I turned 10, I decided I wanted to swim competitively. I have always loved watching the Olympics, but for some reason swimming competitively had never seemed to be something I would be interested in. I participated in gymnastics and basketball up until 6th grade, but I never was fully dedicated to those sports. 

The first step for me in furthering my success in swimming was to do swim lessons. I swam with one of my best friends at my local YMCA, and I quickly discovered I was one of the fastest in the lessons. Through these lessons I began to realize that there was a potential for me to have a future in the sport. I would beg my mom to take me to the pool after school so I could be in the water practicing. Swimming became all I would think about.  After two sessions of swim lessons, my parents and my instructor decided I was ready for the swim team.  At the time, I was terrified to start, so I waited until the summer season came about. In the meantime, I swam by myself at the YMCA. I watched YouTube videos to better my technique. I knew I wanted to have a background in swimming before joining a team of swimmers who had competed their whole lives, so I taught myself the basics of the sport.

When I first joined swim team, my spirits were low. I found that there were many better swimmers on the team, and I wasn't doing as well as I had hoped for. However, this only pushed me to work harder so I could get to the times I hoped for. I have continued to do swim team ever since that first season and have only gotten better since. My technique has gotten better, and my times have improved. I have done best by repeating the process of going to the pool by myself and working on parts of my technique that coaches have pointed out. Working during the off-season has proved to be beneficial to me during the season because my form and endurance has improved by that point.

My freshman season, I was put into the fastest lane at practice, and I was the only freshman in the lane. The rest of the lane was mostly seniors. I have one of the fastest kicks on the team, which allows me to get off of the wall very quickly and have a dominate streamline. This has led me into my sophomore season as one of the fastest on the team and to be chosen as the team captain. My times have continued to drop every meet and I currently hold all of the records at my high school except for the 100 backstroke record and the 100 breaststroke record.

Ever since I have started competitively swimming, I have set a goal for myself to swim in college. Many of my closet friends and family members have tried to tell me that it is nearly impossible to do so, and to set my goals somewhere else. I haven't because I know that if I put my mind to something, I am able to accomplish it. I have proved that to myself through my hard work in and out of the pool. When I work for something that I believe I can attain, my hard work will pay off.

I am a good candidate for a team because I am a hard worker, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish what I want to. I also have a very high GPA (4.0), which many athletes lack. Teams also need someone who is willing to not only push themselves, but others as well. I am known for being at the edge of the pool cheering for my team mates, and pushing them to finish a set during practice. Even though I am young, my teammates come to me for advice which says something about my work ethic and results. Finally, being self-taught is extremely valuable. I can listen to a coach and take their advice, but I can also find my mistakes by myself and figure out new ways that no one would think of in order to correct my errors. Not very many people can say this for themselves.

My strong character, impressive academics, and continued success in athletics makes me a strong candidate for your college swim team.