Colten Schulte '22 Recruiting Profile

My story begins when I hit the age of four. My parents had signed me up for swim lessons with a family friend and well-known swim coach, Don Cozad. He trained me up until my fifth grade year of elementary school when he moved away to a different city and is still one of my biggest inspirations and the best swim coach I had the opportunity to train by. Throughout my entire swim career, my dad was one of my biggest motivations and kept me on my feet. He pushed me to be better and better every day and supported me no matter what. Once I began swimming at Crestview Middle School, I knew I could be a great swimmer with the right coaching and motivation. My time through high school swim has been amazing, but I know there is much improvement that can be made. Another one of my biggest motivations is myself and competition. I am constantly trying to better myself and have fun with my competition. Emma and Brody Page, two of my club teammates, have pushed me to become a better swimmer throughout the past couple of years and they are two of the best people I look up to. I learned through swim that I can achieve anything I want as long as I set my mind to it.

High school started bumpy for me. I did not have the mindset I do now and did not think about my future until my Sophomore year. I began thinking about the things I want to do in life, such as; be law enforcement, Cyber Security specialist, Military pathways, social service, and many other career pathways. Once I got to really thinking about that stuff, my whole mental attitude change as I began trying my hardest and pushing myself to excel in things I never thought I could and I stand by those words to this day. I strive to attend a college that will allow me to excel in Swim and allow me to major in Cyber Security. Since the beginning, I have had to overcome many challenges including mental and physical aspects, the roughest being through the Covid pandemic. Once pools shut down, I had to resort to doing average at-home workouts and running, but I do not think they were cutting it for when it was time to get back in the pool. I trained my hardest and by the time pools opened again, I wasn't set as far back as I thought. It took a couple of weeks but when it was over I was off to the races. Swimming is more than just a sport to me, as it is something that has molded me into the person I am today. I have learned how to effectively overcome obstacles that are put in my path while maintaining a stable mental state and physical body. My work ethic allows me to get tasks done fast and properly. Motivation from myself and peers has allowed me to become a great person overall and I am thankful I have had the opportunity to do things such as hang out with my friends, play baseball and swim for various teams, and build relationships with new people. I am excited to see where I get myself in the future.