Connor Henry '22 Recruiting Profile

I look up at the scoreboard: 2:00. Not exactly what I wanted to go in my 200 fly. The red numbers glare at me, a sharp contrast from the ecstasy I felt after finishing my earlier races. No matter how I do in a race, no matter how I feel afterwards, the warmdown pool is the first place I go. Although it is nominally for actively recovering your body after a race, for me, at least, it has always served a much more important, often overlooked purpose: a place to just swim out my emotions. Sometimes I can barely keep the smile off of my face while swimming, while other times it feels like I am holding back tears. Today, when I get out, I return to my team’s tent and am greeted by a chorus of supportive remarks from my teammates. They help remind me how hard I’ve worked and that there will always be another meet for me to reach my goals. 

This is just a snapshot of the role that swimming plays in my life, but it’s a situation that shows both what I put into swimming and what I get out of it. Swimming is more than just a sport for me. It is also a way of life, a social experience, and a cathartic form of therapy all rolled into one. 

A couple years ago, someone remarked that school and a social life, things that many of my peers are preoccupied with, just seemed like a brief intermission in my life, something to fill my time between swim practices. Although I work hard at school and spend time with my friends, I have realized to a certain extent, that holds true. Except for Sundays, I go to at least one practice per day, often two, and the effort that I put into swimming makes it feel like the main event. I am constantly focusing on my next goal in swimming and what it takes to achieve it, whether it is working hard in the pool, eating right, or getting enough sleep. 

But I don’t show up to swim practice just for myself. I get to see my teammates there, who are some of my closest friends, by virtue of the countless hours we’ve spent and the joys and disappointments we’ve experienced together. We support each other during meets, suffer together during practice, and have fun in the times in between. 

Just like the warmdown pool helps me after a race, practice can help me process my emotions after a long day. It is cathartic to just swim it all out, whether “it” is anger, disappointment, or even happiness. This has helped me deal not only with the ups and downs of swimming, but with those of my life as a whole. Staring at that blue line is almost meditative, allowing you to channel your emotions into swimming faster and harder, and after practice is over, I always feel better. 

Although I don’t define my entire personality as being a swimmer, it is hugely important to me and it is hard to imagine what my life would be like without it.