Rachel Kravtsov '24 Recruiting Profile

Hi! My name is Rachel Kravtsov and I am a swimmer for Glenbrook North High School as well as Glenbrook Swim Club. I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 6 years old and I hope that in the future I can continue my swimming career and contribute to the team. I would love to go to a big school to experience a big, diverse community of students, teammates, and faculty, in addition to getting a well rounded education that will prepare me for law school. More specifically, I’m interested in the field of neurology/brain studies and how this area keeps on evolving every day. 

Throughout the years that I’ve been swimming, I’ve developed many skills and traits that can help me both in and out of the pool. I can easily translate a coach's criticism into results in the pool as well as take a teacher's advice easily in a classroom setting. In addition to that, although I have always been one of the youngest swimmers in each group that I have been in, I’ve always been able to be a strong leader, and supporter of each and every one of my teammates. Swimming is a sport where it is easy to make close friendships, which allows me to take that attitude of friendliness and apply it to any social situation I could be in.

When I was 10, I had to make an extremely difficult decision about whether or not to pursue swimming or continue with figure skating. I was equally talented in both, however if I wanted to get far in one or the other, a choice needed to be made. Ever since I chose swimming in that moment, I was immediately surrounded by a big support system including my family, friends, and coaches. With my family, both school and swimming come with a whole new level of standards and expectations. Both of my parents are immigrants from Russia and grew up with their own set of strict and very personal ideals that they have implemented over the years with our family. Having such a strong support system at home has helped me develop a balanced approach to focus on both swimming and academics. Although it is still difficult to maintain a perfect lifestyle, I do my best to compartmentalize tasks at hand. When I’m at swim practice, no outside matters, arguments, or hard classwork enters my mind and vice versa.