Kate Rutledge '23 Recruiting Profile

I have loved the water from the beginning and joined my neighborhood summer swim team when I was twelve years old. During the pandemic, achieving better times through competition moved to the forefront of my mind through improvement of my swimming technique. Throughout the pandemic, I discovered that swimming was a part of my life I could not live without. I would say that one of the best things to come out of the pandemic for me was the beginning of my true swimming. I began swimming year round, working on racing technique, and gave up other activities to dedicate my time to the high school season. When I wasn’t in the pool, there seemed to be an itch I couldn’t scratch. My hard work and complete commitment over the past few years have reaped results I would have never imagined before.  Since my freshman year, I have been able to drop roughly 5 seconds in my 50 freestyle, 16 seconds in my 200 freestyle, and 11 seconds in my 100 freestyle. I would have never guessed that my perfectionism and drive to never quit would become so advantageous in any aspect of my life. This perseverance has become particularly instrumental in recent months. I have battled knees injuries and was devastated to have to remain on the sidelines while my teammates when on to compete without me during my Senior season. But, if there is one thing I have learned from my time as a swimmer, it is that nothing can stop me from achieving my goals and my ultimate dream of becoming a collegiate swimmer.