Stephen Hogeman '21 Recruiting Profile

I picked the sport of swimming at age 4, and it has been an influential factor in my life since. The sport has helped me learn how fun it is to have a close bond with your team, and it has helped me learn how to be competitive in anything that I do. I feel that I grew the most in the 2019 season at Cherry Creek High School, as despite the hardships that we faced, the team grew a close familial bond, that helped us in dominating the 2019 CHSAA State Championships.

Over my swimming career, I have learned how important it is for me to do my absolute best and improve on my best. As I worked hard in my Freshman year of high school, I drastically improved on my times at state, and even got the Varsity hard worker award for my efforts. Through listening to my coaches, I have understood how to pace my distance races. I really dislike missing practice, so much so that if I miss a day, I make it up at my local pool, which speaks to my commitment. My experience has allowed me to analyze my races while I swim them. For example, at High school state in prelims, I realized I was shortening my strokes, so I made corrections allowing me to improve in finals to drop time and place higher. 

All of these qualities I have developed in swimming have significantly helped me in my studies as well. I am very hardworking at my studies, and will always make the smart choice when it comes to time management. I go to my teachers for help when I don’t understand the topic of the class, and I am committed to putting maximum effort into all of my assignments. I analyze how effective my study habits are and adjust my study schedule as needed. I think my greatest learning experience in my studies was in my 10th grade Biology Honors class. The class format was not something that I was accustomed to, so I didn’t perform as well as I expected in the first half of the first semester. However, through my commitment and hard work in my notes, and extra time spent with my teacher, I changed my habits and improved greatly. 

Through my swimming and my academic life, I have learned what it means to be hard working, what it means to commit to an activity, what it means to analyze and problem-solve, and what it means to listen to your teachers and coaches. These aspects have all had a big impact on my life, and I know that they will help me excel in my college career.