Ethan Marunde '21 Recruiting Profile

“Show up, work hard, and listen." This simple yet powerful quote (by Tim Grover, renowned for training Michael Jordan) guides and inspires me, both in and out of the pool. Swimming simultaneously energizes me and brings me calm focus. When I am in swim season, I find that my energy soars and my academic focus increases. I’ve challenged myself with rigorous courses throughout my high school career; swimming helps me focus my time to balance course work, swimming, sleep, and other extracurricular commitments. I am very interested in learning how factors such as nutrition, sleep, hydration, and mental focus impact one’s health and performance. I strive to stay strong in mind and body and integrate healthy practices to optimize my performance. 

  As a teammate, I strive to lead by example and share my energy to encourage and motivate others. Last year, as a Sophomore, I had fun motivating the Freshmen and getting them quickly integrated into the team.  A fulfilling moment was encouraging a high school teammate (who had never swam club) to join my club swim team, and then seeing him excel in the summer championship season. It’s very rewarding to see someone work hard, and have opportunities to reach their potential. To that end, I volunteer to help manage our high school girls’ swim team. I enjoy motivating, cheering, working closely with the coaches to organize lineups, and providing feedback. 

Outside of the pool, I enjoy spending time with my family. I am so fortunate to have a loving and supportive family.  I have a close relationship with my parents and my older and younger sisters. I enjoy hiking and kayaking with my family, for the peace of being immersed in nature, as well as for the unhurried time to talk. I am also an active and proud member of my church’s high school youth group and have taken on leadership roles to engage my peers in in-depth discussions. Last summer I traveled to Guatemala where, together with my church group, we helped build school classrooms for a local church. 

My goal for swimming is to become a stronger swimmer by improving each day. I show up at practice with specific things to work on; I like to lead lanes and push myself during difficult sets and really slow down and focus on details of my stroke during technique sets. I work hard to reach my longer-term weekly, monthly and season goals; and I listen to my coaches instructions and feedback. Providing motivation to my lane and to my team is another of my goals. I like to lead by example: staying focused during taxing sets while also having fun with teammates during meets and practices. I can be found making inspirational music playlists to get the team pepped up before a meet, and leading team cheers during the meet. I’ve found a balance of being focused at meets and making teammates smile, reminding them (and myself) that we are here doing what we love.